Between Day and Night
by Lawra
Summary: Ranma x Gargoyles Crossover - As usual, various and powerful magical entities decide to play with Ranma's life. Oh that poor, poor boy.
1. Strange Bedfellows

"Speech"

'Thought'

(Language the current character does not know or is not fluent) \

For canon information on the series Gargoyles please visit my profile page where I've posted a link. I will be slowly building up the world as I go along.

There is a story with a similar title in the Gargoyle section, but I came up with this before seeing that and it fits on a few levels.

X x x x x x

In a flash of green light, the gargoyle Demona now sat on a tall ancient chair in her home. Free from the chains that bound her, she looked crossly at Titania's Mirror in front of her. With her long wings draped around her shoulders like a cloak, she tapped her tail listlessly against the leg of the chair.

"That was a romp indeed!" Puck said with satisfaction, clearly pleased with his night of mischief, as he landed in a crouch on a large globe to her right. The trickster being dressed in brightly colored clothes, possibly something a court jester would wear during the human dark ages. She had never had an eye for human fashion but the bright red, blue, and gold ensemble was almost harsh to look at.

"Spare me your gloating." She said exhausted and placed her head in her hands. "Just go."

This plan had held so much potential, only to be ruined for the amusement of Puck. And it had been so simple, steal the mirror, summon Puck, and use him to get rid of the humans. Except, any command she had given was twisted to the opposite of what she wanted. First he had given that insufferable pet human of Goliath, Elisa Maza, the gift of being a gargoyle. To expound his sin he gave the rest of Manhattan the same gift. The only thing he had done right was turn her former clan into humans, and even that had backfired. This night was beyond any redemption.

"Without giving you something in return for all this merriment?" Puck asked flying around to appear at her left from behind the chair. "Puck is many things, but never a poor guest." The member of the Third Race shook a finger and looked far too pleased with himself.

"Please, leave." Waving a taloned hand, she shifted to her right, and put her face in her hand. There was a small jingling noise and she could no longer smell the nuisance next to her.

"You want to be your gargoyle self at night, but not stone by day?" She sat up straight and looked around, before finding him floating in the air high above her. "Well Puck has just the thing to make your wish come your way. Fearsome creature you may stay, the light of day however still holds sway, cold water will free you from your plight, but beware for hot shall return you right!"

Puck held up his hands and green energy shot from them to ricochet off the mirror and strike her. There was a moment of disorientation before she found herself outside above the ground, and in a brightly lit area. 'THE SUN!' She hissed and felt herself turning to stone. 'NO!' If she fell while stone she might shatter and die! Trying to curl up to protect her body, something impacted heavily at her side just before she crashed into some water.

X x x x x x

Ranma wasn't really listening as the portly Chinese man explained some useless trivia about this training area. Blah blah blah, he'd heard it all before, usually some mystical mumbo jumbo about how the place was special. A year of training now in China and the years before in Japan had gotten him used to all the strange stories and occasionally strange items that dotted the landscape.

"You very strange ones, no, Sir?" The Guide stopped talking about the place to talk to them directly. "Is more than one hundred springs, and everyone has own tragic story."

"Ranma follow me!" His old man shouted and leapt up on to a bamboo pole. Rolling his eyes he jumped up to land lightly on his own. Preparing from an attack he wondered what dirty trick the old man would have up his sleeve this time. Ranma's balance had always been the superior, which meant the old man would fall off the pole first. But there was no way his old man would let that happen without trying something underhanded. "I won't take it easy on you."

"Just how I want it." He called back and in time with Genma jumped off the pole to meet in mid air. The bald martial artist was attempting a simple kick, planting his feet down on top of the leg he tumbled up and over Genma. Once behind, he kicked his father in the back of the head, sending him crashing into a large pool below.

"Gotcha." Landing on another pole he looked down at the water. "Hey Pop, you done already?" The water down below exploded and a huge black and white form rose up to land on a pole, a small voice in his head asked why the bamboo didn't splinter from the giant panda that now balanced on it in a martial arts stance.

"Wha－ wha－ wha－ What is that!" He all be screamed.

"Oh Sir fall in spring of drowned panda. There, very tragic legend of panda that drown in spring two thousand year ago." The Guide supplied helpfully from below. "Now whoever fall in spring take body of panda."

"Huh?" He asked and had to avoid a paw from the attacking panda. "Wait a second!" Dodging two more he put some distance between himself and that panda pool. "You never said anything about－" His distraction cost him as the panda got a solid hit in and sent him shooting towards a spring on the edge. Flailing his arms and legs wildly in a futile hope to stop himself, the air just above the pool wavered and then a strange azure feminine tengu popped into existence directly in front of him.

"Hey watch out!" He called at the last second before his head impacted with the other falling body. Ranma really hadn't been expecting to hit something that felt like it was made out of stone. "Gurk."

X x x x x x

"Oh no! Not spring of drowned girl!" He cried out trying to figure out why that winged creature had appeared in mid air to intercept the young mister customer. Scratching his chin he tried to remember what would happen if two creatures entered into a spring at the same time.

He had no time to come up with the answer before a blue shape burst from the water and landed hunched over on the ground. Almost instantly it turned into dark tan and froze in it's position. Blinking repeatedly he noticed that it was the young man who had fallen into the spring, if the torn gi, and shape was any indication.

The next thing that happened was a bright red haired Asian woman burst from the spring and took a deep breath. This one was clearly not the young customer, the clothing was completely different, from what he could see her top was just a simple piece of cloth to cover her breasts that hung down from a single shoulder strap.

"Oh so that what happen when two different people fall in spring." Nodding to himself he thought it interesting how their species had switched. Young mister customer most likely had remained male even though falling in the spring of drowned girl because it went to the easiest target.

(Ugh that Puck, the next time I see him I'm going to tear out his insides.) The red head growled and hauled herself from the spring. (Why is it so warm?) She asked and look skyward. (The sun!) She cried out happily and closed her eyes as if basking in the light for the first time. (He did it! That insufferable imp actually did it!)

"Uh excuse me Miss Customer but where you come from?" He asked hoping she spoke some Chinese or Japanese, it was a good bet she knew at least one but one never knew, especially if they simply appeared out of thin air. The pair of baleful green eyes that turned to glare hatefully at him, gave him the sudden desire to find a place to hide.

(Pathetic human.) The woman sneered disdainfully while looking at him in disgust. (Keep your mouth shut or I'll make it so permanently.) Not understanding the words, but clearly understanding the tone, he nodded rapidly. (Don't you touch that!) She yelled after noticing the panda poking at the petrified form of the young mister customer.

"Mr. Customer!" He yelled and ran over and started pulling the panda towards his hut. "You change back now." If the angry woman didn't want to know how, he'd explain later, and then he would have to figure out if hot water worked on stone.

"Growf?" The panda tried to talk.

"Uh, not sure what you say, but hot water change you back."

"Growf, growfgrowf." Glancing back as he pulled the panda away he found the red haired woman was inspecting the stone cursed form of young mister customer. She seemed more curious than hostile about the form. He hadn't gotten a good look at her before falling in the spring but judging by the similarities she may be more knowledgeable on the subject than him.

Finally he was able to get the panda into his small hut, which served as his temporary residence while acting as the Guide. Inside was a kettle he had been preparing to use for tea. Now it would be used as a convenient tool to revert the newest member of the Jusenkyo cursed family. "You see Sir, hot water return you to normal." He said and upended the kettle over the panda's head, just enough to change him back to human form.

Immediately the man started to dance a little happy jig. Sighing at the antics of the most recent victim of the springs, he was surprised when his kettle was snatched from his hands, the gi clad man running out the door, shouting. "Woman! Get away from my son!"

X x x x x x

Demona was surprised, damp, and somewhat confused over meeting another gargoyle out in the wilderness. Getting on to all fours she bent down to see that it was a male, hunched over with his wings pulled in protect him in vain from the sunlight. Another oddity was that the shirt he was wearing was shredded in the back, and his pants, an even stranger sight for a gargoyle, were falling off his legs where he had torn them in two from moving with them around his ankles.

Freezing, she finally realized that something felt very wrong. She could see her arms, but there was something horrible about them. Instead of the normal azure color, they were a very human shade of pink. Falling backwards she brought her hands up and noticed that instead of the normal dangerous talons, they were the delicate hands of a human.

(Woman! Get away from my son!") Clenching her now human hands and biting down so hard that her human teeth were close to breaking, she stood up and punched the glasses wearing human hard enough to send him bouncing across the dirt. Next she turned her glowing red eyes to the short portly human in the green communist suit.

(This fix! This fix!) He repeated several times, in his strange language, and ran up to grab the kettle that the other human had dropped. Not caring what he wanted, she prepared to break this human as well. Except he took off the kettle lid and splashed her with it. Almost instantly she gained several inches in height, and she had only a moment to realize the return to her birth form before the stone sleep overtook her.

X x x x x x

Ranma awoke to the strange feeling of being constricted from something around his body. Not like a rope or tight clothing, but literally something surrounding him in every way possible. At first he didn't struggle, instead trying to understand what the covering around his body could be? When no answers came, panic started to set in, remembering vividly his father jumping from a pool as a giant panda. What had he become?

Moving, whatever it was gave way slightly with a strange stone like crackling. His ears picked up an animalistic roar somewhere nearby. Was he going to be attacked by some big horrific feline? Locked in some strange stone?

(What are you doing?) A female voice asked in English. (Hurry up.) The woman demanded impatiently and he tried to figure out what she had said. Finding his prison loosening, he struggled and suddenly he was free. Rising up into a standing position, something flared behind him, and he was suddenly forced to flail his arms wildly before falling flat on his back.

(What a pathetic excuse for a gargoyle.) Staring upwards at the night sky, some light from the sun still illuminating the sky. He found that he felt normal and weird at the same time. Moving his fingers and toes, all six sets felt normal. 'Wait a minute－ six?' Blinking he looked above his head and found a pair of small three fingered hands attached to a second pair of arms, and some material stretched out like a bats wing.

"That's different." He noted, realizing that the skin color of the arms was a pale blue. Trying to sit up he found that it didn't work right. In fact when he looked downwards he found a long reptilian tail that tapered to a point, was stopping him from sitting up normally. Analyzing his legs they were also different, his lower leg had shortened and to make up for it and then some his feet had elongated, ending in a trio of thick clawed toes.

"What am I?" He asked shifting to try and stand, nearly stepping on some wing material in the process. His expectations had ranged from some kind of animal to even another human, but this was way different from anything he had ever heard about. If anything he looked like some weird mix of creatures, and the oddity of it was overriding his urge to panic.

(Wonderful, the only other gargoyle for miles and he doesn't know English. And he appears to be mentally deficient.)

Blinking and still crouching unsteadily on tiptoes, he looked over and found the tengu woman from earlier standing with her arms crossed, a dark blue cape spread over her body. Visible underneath was a muscled form, covered only by a long loin cloth with a wide belt at the top, and something hanging off one shoulder to cover her chest. On her forehead was a gold tiara with four spikes rising from the corners. And on top of her head was bright red hair in a wild spiky mane.

"I know－ little." He said in English. Unlike his old man he actually knew some Chinese and English. Genma being far too lazy to do so himself, instead depending on his limit grasp to get by.

(Good, come with me, we must leave before those wretched humans realize that we no longer slumber.) It took him a moment to work through that sentence. There was something about leaving, and that's as far as he got.

"Uh－ no, I no go－ must find Pop." He said slowly, finding the small hut he had seen earlier with a light on inside, and the smell of a fire entering his nose. Standing up he stumbled a bit to find his balance. He was thrown heavily off balance by the wings and long tail, making him bend his knees more than usual. Narrowing his eyes he finally realized the similarities between this form and the tengu woman in front of him. Did that mean he was a tengu now?

Taking a step on his tip toes and faltering, his ankle or what he thought was his ankle, refusing to go down and meet the ground. Growing more and more sure with each step, he was able to make it to the hut, the demon woman following, a curious expression on her face. "Yo! Hey! Pop you in there?" He knocked on the door before staring at his hand, now containing only four fingers with menacing talons on each digit. 'Wow these things look pretty dangerous.'

The door opened and before he could say anything hot water was poured on to his head. "Here ya go boy." Genma announced and continued to pour the steaming liquid on him until Ranma punched his old man up side the head.

"Idiot! What are you trying to do? Boil me?" He yelled and shook Genma by his gi top. Catching sight of his hands he found that they were once again human. "Hey I'm back to normal!" Releasing his father he patted himself down just to be sure.

"Yes young Mr. Customer, hot water reverse curse but cold water will activate it again." Stoking the fire was the Guide. "Have some food left over, invite in demon lady if want." Remembering said woman, he turned and saw her staring at him no long curiously, but not exactly hostile.

"Food?" He asked in English. Maybe she had fallen into the spring of drowned whatever too? She snorted and spun around, before storming off into the dark woods. "What's her problem?" Shrugging he headed inside to get some food and to replace his wrecked clothing.

X x x x x x

Finishing off her food, formerly a small black piglet, Demona was crouched just outside the small human dwelling. She had been watching the conversation inside, and was able to make sense of this curse. Puck had once again screwed everything up. The trickster's parting words rang back to her about hot and cold water, and the ramifications of such a thing were not sitting well with her.

Simply flying during a storm was now impossible, she would return to that wretched human form, which would no doubt cause her to fall to her death. Vulnerable, that's what she was now, the chance to walk around during the day was not worth such a price. For this, Puck would definitely die, after he fixed his mistake, but die none the less.

Licking her lips clean, she watched the pair of humans fight. They were both incredibly skilled, being faster and stronger than most humans she had encountered in her long life. The one she had seen as a gargoyle was chasing the older, he seemed nearly as distraught over this water based affliction as her. Demona's eyes narrowed, growing angry that another human was allowed to become a gargoyle.

Killing him would be easy, he was ignorant of the stone sleep that would overtake him in the morning as a gargoyle, and if she could stand being a human for the time she could smash him. Simple, easy, and the human would be no more. That didn't sit well with her though. No, if she was going to kill him, it would have to be with her own talons.

Narrowing her eyes at the expanse of small pools, she pondered the nature of them. There was little doubt that they had both fallen into the same one, at relatively the same time. The result was that she became a human and he a gargoyle. Puck's exploits the night prior had shown he could freely change the shape of mortals. So what was the reason he had instead sent her to this place and to come into contact with this human?

'HOW DARE HE!' Snarling she took a hand and ran it down the side of the hut, ripping through the flimsy wooden wall like tissue paper. 'I am bound to another human!' That imp had used some magical vortex to take half of her gargoyle essence and give it to human! And just as unforgivably, she had been forced to take his paltry human essence in exchange. Death was too good for Puck, she would take her time and enjoy pulling him apart piece from piece.

X x x x x x

"GET BACK HERE OLD MAN AND TAKE YOUR BEATING LIKE A MAN!" Ranma yelled and bounded after his father.

It was dark and hard to see, but his panda father, an accident on the way out of the Guide's hut, was easy to track with how much noise he was making. Exiting a small patch of bamboo trees he slowed to a halt after suddenly finding himself on a cliff overlooking the valley of springs. Glancing from side to side, he tried to figure out where his old man had run off too.

Hearing a loud thump, he spun around and prepared to attack, only to stop at the sight of that strange woman rising up from the ground, her eyes glowing a brilliant shade of red. Now he could see that she had wings, since they were spread out behind her briefly before they relaxed to fold over her shoulders like a cape.

(Human, you will come with me.) She spoke in English and he frowned trying to figure out what she had said.

"No thank." He replied and prepared to move around her.

(Let me explain something, I do not like humans, but if you're needed to cure me then you will be coming with me.) The word cure stopped him in his tracks.

"Cure?" He asked and licked his lips nervously.

(Good, you understand about as much as a human could.) Looking crossly at the blue woman, he felt like he should be insulted. (I want you to find out where the nearest airport is, immediately.)

"What?" She gave him an exasperated look before using her tail to draw a picture in the dirt.

(This.) Coming closer he saw that it was a simple drawing of an airplane.

"Oh so－ fly somewhere?" He asked for confirmation and she nodded. "Where?"

(New York City, I am assuming this is somewhere in China.)

"America? I not have money for that." And looking her up and down, he didn't think she carried cash at all.

(I have plenty of money to simply buy an airline.) She waved a hand dismissively. (Now go find where the nearest airport is. We leave immediately.)

"Why should believe you?" He asked.

(Because I was sent here by a soon to be dead imp, near as I can tell, he did it to bind us together in some way. It seems he has stolen half of me and exchanged it with half of you. So I require you to make me whole again.)

"I no under－stand." She was talking too fast and with words he didn't know.

Giving him an irritated look, she switched over to a pensive one. Once again with her tail, she started to draw in the dirt, this time of two figures. One was of a human shape figure while the other appeared to be human but with wings. She then drew a line, cutting both in half vertically, and then repeated drawing the figured only this time each was visibly half and half. Half human and half whatever she was.

'She thinks we switched something? Makes more sense than that crap the Guide told me. Drowned animals making you take their body? Probably just brought out the old mans inner fat oaf.'

"Then you know some one fix?"

(Yes.)

"O-kay, if cure me I go you."

(I'll wait for you here, now go, I do not like to be kept waiting.)

X x x x x x

Arms crossed, Demona watched the human boy run off, hopefully he would be able to get the required information or else they would have to simply travel to the nearest populated area. She had seen the direction the panda had gone, could even track the smelly creature with her nose if needed, but she didn't want any excess baggage than what she already had to deal with. At the very least this human was now half gargoyle, so long as he performed the tasks she assigned to him, she could halfway tolerate him.

Crouching on the cliff overlooking the valley, she scanned the magical pools. They were definitely coated in the same magic that Puck used. That meant this place had been created by someone from the Third race. This only cemented in her head that this was the tricksters latest plan to toy with her. Either by his hand in creating this place or using another's work to his own benefit. Even the great distance from Manhattan was probably premeditated.

Snarling, her patience had worn out and she leapt from the cliff, wings spreading outwards to let her glide down to the ground next to the small hut. "What is taking you so long?" She demanded and stormed into the human domicile. Inside the boy was digging through a backpack and shoving a couple things into another.

"Just see—ing if anything good here." The boy said in his broken English. So the boy wasn't completely incompetent. Her eyes caught sight of the short fat human trying to look inconspicuous, that was fine with her, humans should know their place. Seeing a glass of water sitting on the table she decided to experiment, and upended it's contents on the boy.

There was a moment of hesitation before the change occurred. Wings tore through the back of his white shirt creating rips from midway up his back to his collar as they did. His legs were tied up when the white pants he wore were pushed downwards due to his growing tail. The pair of black slippers he wore were shredded thanks to his now digitigrade feet, complete with three sharp talons on his toes, and a single one facing backwards on each ankle.

(WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?) He roared and tried to stand up and face her, only to end up tied up by his pants and falling down.

"Interesting." She ignored the new gargoyle who was trying to fix his pants. Whatever powered this transformation was very powerful. No incantation, no conduit, and it was done in only a few seconds. "Besides you're more useful like this." Putting her chin between her thumb and first talon, she wondered to what extent his physical abilities as a human carried over.

"What you name anyway?" The temporary gargoyle asked, finally shredding the back of his human pants allowing him to pull them up into place.

"Demona." She answered and watched him awkwardly fold his new wings over his shoulder. But her eyes widened when he bound them in place by putting his backpack over them. "What are you doing you fool?" She demanded angrily.

"What?"

"Ignorant human, don't bind your wings." She growled and tore the pack off of him. "Even if you're too stupid to know how to fly, you can at least look like a proper gargoyle, clothing not withstanding." The male simply stared at her uncomprehending. Growing irritated she realized that if she wanted him to truly be useful until such time that she could be rid of him. It would mean playing mother to some human turned gargoyle. 'I'll end up killing him before I ever get back to Puck.'

"What problem?" He asked as she shoved the pack into his hands.

"I'm leaving now." Giving the small human a dark look, she left the building, and waited impatiently for her new burden. Her eyes however, spotted the other annoyance as it disappeared behind a tree large enough to hide it's bulk.

"I Saotome Ranma by way." The new gargoyle said appearing at her side. "And Guide say south west－ which is that way." Her perpetual frown deepened at that. That direction held no high points, which would make flying impossible, meaning lots of walking. 'Oh yes, Puck will pay.'

X x x x x x

"Achoo!" The immaculately dressed Owen Burnett sneezed while waiting to act on an order, his employer David Xanatos, was considering. He had been doing that a lot in the past hour.

"You're not coming down with a cold, are you Owen?" His boss asked casually.

"No Mr. Xanatos." He answered and checked to make sure his business suit was still straight. 'Someone must be thinking of me.' If it wouldn't have wrecked his Owen Burnett image, Puck would have smirked.

X x x x x x

Genma snuck sneakily behind his cursed son and that strange monster woman. His poor son was even in a form similar to hers, even had the same coloring, though in a darker shade of blue. The fact that he was a panda right now wasn't a concern. Nothing a little hot water wouldn't fix, just like it would put Ranma back in proper form. He couldn't be more thankful that the boy hadn't become a girl. At least this way he could be a manly, whatever, but what he couldn't understand was what she had said to get him to go along with her.

He had seen the crude drawings in the dirt, she had left, after he had doubled back to wonder why the boy had given up so quickly. Making sense of them was beyond him, but he could take an educated guess, and that guess lead him to believe that she might have a cure. How to get her to share it though? Or worse, maybe she was trying to turn his son into one of whatever she was, permanently.

'But that would ruin the joining of the schools!' Which while not his most serious promise ever, was one that he planned to fulfill. Looking at the woman and Ranma, he didn't think that any daughter of Soun's would want anything to do with him. Not that they had much choice in the matter, but the boy could be difficult.

The only course he could see, that would allow him to keep his pact with Soun, would be to stop these two from traveling together. As soon as they stopped for the night, he'd just take the boy and high tail it back to Jusenkyo and retrieve his pack. After that, they could find a cure, then head back to Japan. Surely they wouldn't travel long at night, who did that?

X x x x x x

Ranma was getting annoyed with his new traveling companions general attitude. He couldn't really understand her all that well. Maybe if she was slower when talking, but whenever she spoke it was way too fast, and she never really repeated. Not that he had tried to make much small talk, he was too engrossed in trying to figure out this new body.

Walking wasn't that difficult, for someone with impeccable balance like him, it was child's play to balance up on his toes. It was probably better that Demona had splashed him with cold water, this way he was getting used to this form. He definitely felt stronger and his senses had jumped in intensity, but he felt bulky and uncoordinated. This form turned out to be noticeably muscled, where in his real body he was slim.

"Um－ why go night?" He asked, not that he was complaining since he was wide awake and likely couldn't have gotten to sleep, but it was weird.

Demona snorted at his question. (Gargoyles turn to stone during the day, and I will not be traveling during the day as a human, if I can help it.)

"What?" Scratching the back of his head, he really wished he had tried harder at English.

(Gargoyles.) Demona pointed to herself. (Turn to.) Now she picked up a rock from the ground. (This in sunlight.)

"That why－ went to sleep－ after fall in- spring?"

(Yes.) Grimacing, that just made this curse that much worse. Shifting his pack from one arm to the other, he suddenly saw the benefits of moving at night. One little splash of cold water and he'd be stuck somewhere till nightfall.

"Are you－ have you－ all ways be gar-goyle?"

(Always, and when I find that Puck, I'll be a full one again.)

Allowing her to walk a bit farther in front he studied the woman. The Guide had said he had fallen into the spring of drowned girl. Only because she had fallen in at the same time, it had done this weird mix thing. Which begged the question of what was worse, turning into some strange monster thing, or turning into a girl. Well so long as this woman knew of a cure, which she said she did, then it wouldn't really matter.

Thankfully they had finally come to an end to the plain, unfortunately it then went directly up in a vertical stone face. 'Man it didn't look this bad from far out.' Glancing around for hand holds or areas to jump up to, he found few and far between. He was about to suggest heading off to his right where it looked like there might be some way up, when he noticed Demona walk up and plunge her hands directly into the rock.

Staring in shock, she repeated the act with her other hand and both feet, and continued to climb. (What are you waiting for?) She asked and looked down at him. Glancing down at his new hands, he heard her start climbing again, her movement marked by the heavy crunch of stone. (Do not make me come down there and drag you up!) She called down to him from nearly halfway up.

Feeling challenged, he threw a hand forward and with a heavy crunch his talons ripped into the stone with little resistance. "Whoa! I better be careful with these things." Raising the opposite foot he tried again with the same results. Shifting his pack to hang off one shoulder, he was soon climbing up the wall, and enjoying the feeling of breaking rock underneath his new fingertips.

At the top he found Demona sitting on a fallen log, looking very impatient. But he wasn't going to let her foul mood ruin the fun he had just had scaling a wall that normally would require specialized equipment. Without a word she jumped up into a tree to a large branch, then up into a higher one. Analyzing the area he had come up into showed that it was a forest of large trees. Similar to how he had earlier nearly run out and off a cliff, almost taking another trip into the springs.

(Do try and keep up human!) Demona taunted from up in the tree, and he raised his head to see her launch herself off of it, and open up her wings to glide out over the ledge. Gracefully curving backwards something gave her an updraft and she rose up to fly over the trees.

"Hey no fair!" He yelled in Japanese before running off in the direction she was flying.

X x x x x x

Genma stared up the sheer cliff face, wondering just how his son could climb it. Trailing a paw along the rock, he found several sets of holes driven directly into the rock. 'Maybe I won't try and fight the boy when he's in that blue tengu form.' He thought and looked up, hearing someone shout, and saw the woman had actually taken flight. She circled back towards the cliff and flew over, once again disappearing from sight.

'Maybe the boy will be harder to find than I thought, if he can do that.'

X x x x x x

"No good, red haired." His ramblings devolved into inarticulate growls. Seated on the ground in a small clearing, he had started a fire to warm some water, he was waiting impatiently to be able to turn back into a human. He had lost track of Demona fairly quickly and now could literally feel dawn approaching. Not quickly enough, the water started to steam, and he poured some over his head. Several seconds later he was back to his real body and was able to change into some non-ripped clothing.

Demona dropping into the clearing from above, only made him pause to watch her land, before going back to making himself some food. After realizing that he had lost her, he had slowed down, and come across a rabbit, which he had caught easily. Cooking on a small skillet was the meat he had cleaned from the small mammal and in another tin, some rice was cooking. It wasn't much, but he'd have to get by till they reached a place to get supplies. After all, he and Genma had been set to move on after just one day.

She didn't say anything, instead she walked over to the small stream that he had gotten water from. The gargoyle splashed herself with the water and gave him his first look at her human form. Losing some of her bulky muscle and height, she still kept an athletic build, and the bright red hair. He had assumed she was American or European, but instead she looked Japanese, and around thirty years old.

"Food?" He asked and shifted some of the meat, trying not to notice how little clothing she had on.

(What is it?)

"Rabbit, rice, no have much more." Shrugging, if she was expecting gourmet, she could go jump in the stream.

(I need clothing, this human body doesn't seem capable of handling cold.)

"Uh sure." Dragging his pack over to him, he rummaged around for something, they were approximately the same height, so they should fit. Throwing her a pair of black pants and black shirt, he would have to get some more clothes or find a way not to rip them when he changed. Especially if she was going to be mooching clothes off of him. His last pair of shoes were destroyed, so he'd have to go around barefoot until he could get more.

Checking the food, it was almost ready to eat, so he separated the tin cooking the rice into two and split it by about half. Dividing up the meat, he gave her one tin and some the pair of chopstick he had lifted from Genma's pack. Demona stared at the two eating utensils before tossing them to the side and using her hands to shovel the food into her mouth. Unconcerned with her manners, he ate as well, shoveling the food into his mouth with nearly as much speed.

(What do you call these little white things?) She asked licking her hand clean.

"Rice."

(You have more?)

"Not much, maybe one more meal. Will need go to town today."

(And that means dealing with more humans.) Demona growled and picked at the pants he had given her.

"What problem with people any way?" He asked curious over her venom, and she raised her green eyes to bore into him, sizing him up in some strange way. If he wanted to be honest, those eyes were scary, they looked like they had seen more than someone Demona's age should have seen. Then again he didn't know how old she was or how old gargoyles got.

(Humans are disgusting creatures who have hunted and destroyed my kind to extinction!) She said with enough hatred to make him want to back away. (I am tolerating you because I need you for my cure, if not I would gladly leave you to your fate at their hands.)

"Oh, I take your word for it." Actually he wanted to ask her to repeat it slowly so he could work through it easier. All he had got was that humans did something, and she needed him for a cure. But with how worked up she got, starting a fight might screw up his chances for a cure.

Standing, Demona started to pace, testing the range of motion she had with pants on. However when the sun started to slowly come up, she immediately stopped and looked in the direction of it. He did likewise, worried that whatever strange magic did that stone thing, would still affect him as a human. Feeling the rays of sunlight that filtered through the trees, Ranma felt only warmth, and not whatever feeling turning to stone felt like.

"Go blind stare at sun." He joked as she found the biggest sunbeam to bask in.

(Shut up! This almost makes this horrible body tolerable.) She hissed. Rolling his eyes he started to clean up and was about to start washing the skillet and rice tin when he stopped, realizing that it was cold water and to touch it meant spending the day as a statue.

"You clean? Is cold water." He asked embarrassed.

(If it's a burden, leave it, we'll hunt at night. We're moving too slow as it is.) She didn't make any move to help, instead she sat inspecting her hands. Sighing he carefully started to rinse them out, he would have to do a better job later.

X x x x x x

"Ouch, damn human feet." Demona snarled and pulled out the small stone that felt like a knife had cut into her foot. And in reality, it hadn't even broken the skin. Glaring at the dark haired boy, she really wanted to attack him, just to satisfy her urge to hurt something. Her mood wasn't helped by the fact that she had easily covered this same distance last night before doubling back to find this annoying human.

She couldn't wait for the sun to set, no matter how nice the sun felt, she had to resume her real form. Which also unfortunately meant helping Ranma learn to fly. Him being restricted to the ground was slowing her down far too much. As far as she could tell he was fully formed and not crippled in anyway, other than his birth, which meant he should be capable.

They had been moving for several hours now along a well worn dirt path, and the sun now hung high in the sky. Thanks to her flight last night she knew that there was a village that they would be coming into contact with soon. In fact the path curved and went directly into a small group of houses nestled in, and hidden by the trees.

The path lead up into a small clearing, that she knew housed a circular group of houses. Spread out through this area were several more clearings, and then a large, more permanent structure was midway up the small mountain. Avoiding this place had been her first though, but after she needed clothing that fit this form, and she needed at the least, something to cover her sensitive human feet.

Immediately she slowed down to asses the humans that were busying themselves. She noticed right away that they were all male, and as soon as they had seen her stopped to gawk. Demona was long used to the stares and hateful glares from humans, so when she received looks on the far opposite end of the spectrum, she was noticeably confused.

(Uh hey, do you know anybody that speaks Japanese?) Ranma asked sternly built older man, he stood nearly seven feet tall and was decked out in bear fur clothing, and had a heavily bearded face.

(I speak it. We don't get many visitors around here. What brings you travelers here?)

As Ranma and the hairy man conversed, she grew progressively more agitated. Many of the younger humans were crowding in, their eyes never looking away from her. Being painfully aware of the human nature to her body, she had no clue what was driving their interest, and the uncertainty was driving her agitation.

"Hey." Ranma's voice snapped her out of the endless cycle. "They say we go meet Prince."

"Fine." She had dealt with Princes before, and anything to get away from these stupid males. Unfortunately fighting them all right now was out of the question. The small sea of humanity, barely thirty strong, felt like nothing more than a plague to her. Humans were an infestation to be eliminated.

Her original guess was proven correct, the most important person was living in the building up on the mountain. Keeping a wary eye on the humans, she allowed herself to be lead up into the building. 'This body does work as a good disguise.' Some of the items in the throne room appeared to be magical and it would be nothing for her to come back and inspect them at night. This Prince didn't appear to worry about anyone who could fly trying to get in through the open terrace, what with the sheer cliff face and height above the ground.

Shutting a large steel door at least ten inches thick, was a hunched over old man with twin pheasant tails coming vertically out of the top of his head. In his free arm was a large book and he gave them both a surprised look before hurrying off to stand next to the throne. On the throne was a young man with dragon scale armor on his arms and shoulders. His hair was an odd mix of blue, pink, and white. She held off on calling him a full human, as far as she knew, humans did not have red reptilian eyes.

(This is Prince Herb, eldest son of our King Thyme, and future ruler of the Musk.) A man in gorilla themed armor announced. Though it was lost on her since she didn't understand their language.

(Greetings travelers.) The dragon themed boy said cordially. (What brings you to our lands?)

(Just passing through, I'm Saotome Ranma and this is－ Demona.) Ranma answered. (We're trying to get to the nearest airport. Somethings come up and we have to travel quickly.)

(Is there a reason you wear no shoes?)

(Ah, well it wasn't planned.) Ranma said nervously and she was mildly interesting in hearing what this conversation had been about later. But for now she amused herself by trying to pick out the items she would look at later. Patience was one of many things she had learned in her long life.

(We rarely get visitors here, and definitely not women.) His red eyes quickly went from Ranma to her. (It is our way to separate men and women from birth. While I can offer you a protected spot in the village for the night, the local woods are willed with dangerous beasts, I would have to ask that she remain sequestered until you leave.)

(I don't think you'd have to worry about her going around. And thanks I guess but as soon as it gets dark we'll be leaving. Though it'd be nice to get a nap in before then.)

(Travel by night? Strange but not unheard of. Allium, please show them to the Southern quarter.)

X x x x x x

"Hey these are pretty nice." Flexing his toes inside the leather shoes Herb had donated, Ranma was surprised over their quality. He had setup his tent in a clear area off the side of a circle of houses. Something he had thought was out of the way, except the Musk didn't seem interested in going about their daily business. Instead there was a large amount of them milling about the area, some being very forward.

(Why do these humans stare at me?) Laying down on the floor of his tent and trying to get some sleep, Ranma wasn't sure why he had given Demona his sleeping bag. But he'd let the angry woman have it if it would make her more pleasant. After being up all night and now most of the day, he really just wanted to get some sleep.

"Uh." Getting into a sitting position he looked over at the red haired woman. "It cause you－ good looking. And men, women, live separate here. Guess they no see girl that much."

(They find me attractive?) Demona asked disgusted. (I think I'm going to be sick.) Rolling his eyes, he laid back down and turned away from her. Not only was he physically tired but Demona's attitude was grating against his general good nature. (These humans, why do they try and make themselves like animals?)

"Weird to me too." Every person in this village did seem to have an animal theme, usually with some features that matched their it. Really he couldn't fault her for finding them creepy. Nearly everyone of them who was around his age could not tear their eyes off of her.

(How can you wear these things?) Raising his head up again, he saw that she was complaining about the shoes. (I can barely move my toes and couldn't possibly grip anything with them.)

"Would rather walk around bare foot? I sleep now, if want to travel at night you should do same."

(You do not fear these strange humans?)

"Nah, why should I? They kind of weird but you not exactly normal either." Shifting to get more comfortable, he wondered if he could be considered normal now.

Which only made him angry at his father. Genma was the one who wanted to come all the way out into rural China to go to Jusenkyo. Genma was the idiot who didn't realize that he had become a giant panda. Genma was the one who knocked him into the spring and got him cursed. Well he would get cured, track down the old man and rub it in his face.

X x x x x x

Blinking his eyes several times, Ranma sat up, realizing that he had fallen asleep without realizing it. Demona wasn't in the tent and the clothes he had loaned her were piled haphazardly on the bed roll. Opening up the flap on his tent, he found that it was shortly after sun down. On the far side of the circle of houses was a large bonfire with a group of the Musk talking animatedly in Chinese.

Quickly packing up his things, he had a sneaking suspicion that it would be time to leave soon. The only things he left out where the clothes he had worn last night, so as not to ruin one of his last remaining sets. The sound of a tree branch snapping made him look up and see Demona, in her real body, waiting at the tree line with a bucket in her hand.

When he got over to her, she immediately reared back to splash him. "Hey! Let change clothes first." He held his pack protectively in front of him and she snorted before putting the bucket on the ground.

(Hurry, we have things to do.) Spinning she stalked off in the direction of the cliff. Changing his clothes, he used the bucket of cool water to change forms. Taking a moment to get used to the changes, he headed off after Demona. When he found her, she was already climbing up the cliff face. This time though, she was finding holds between the rocks, and making considerably less noise.

"Why go up there? We need head other way." He asked up to her.

(Don't be stupid, they have magical artifacts in that vault, and I'm not leaving without checking to see if any of them might be useful.)

"Oh." He must be getting better at English, since that actually made sense, and so he started the climb himself. Hauling himself over top the marble railing of the throne room, Demona was already inspecting the big steel door that was off to the side. It was setup like a bank vault, with a large combination lock on the front. Placing her ear against the steel, she started to try and figure out the combination.

He wasn't the best thief, well he was actually great at it, but he just didn't have the mindset to pilfer people out of their belongings. So instead of helping, he leaned on the railing and looked out at the vast expanse of trees leading into the valley of Jusenkyo, and past that was a large spire like mountain. The night was clear with a light wind, and feeling it blow against his face brought up a strange desire to do something.

'Hmm.' Unfolding his new wings, he flapped them experimentally.

Similar to bat wings, except with a small three fingered hand at the middle pivot point. They certainly didn't look big enough to fly with. For that matter, Demona's didn't look all that much bigger for her frame and she had been able too. Speaking of the gargoyle, she suddenly laughed and swung the large door open easily. Then, like a kid in a toy store, dove in to start looking around. Also curious over the contents, he went over and looked inside.

Gold and other metallic jewelry as well as larger items lined some of the shelves, but the vast majority of the contents were scrolls and books. Picking up a book, he tried to turn some of the pages, but found it difficult with this forms claws. Small dexterous motions were not possible, a trade off for their extreme strength. Unfortunately, it was all written in Chinese characters.

(Nothing worth my time.) Demona growled after trying to read the scrolls, throwing it away in disgust, she started to dig through the artifacts hastily. Setting his book down, he did as well, finding a two centimeter wide band of gold catching his eye. Brushing off the thick coating of dust, he wondered how long it had sat unused on the shelf. On it were raised ridges forming an interlocking circular patterns. Printed along the rim of one side were several Chinese characters.

'Nobody will miss this.' It soon found a place in his pack, and just as he was straightening up the entrance into the throne room opened.

(I'm telling you I heard something.)

(If this will shut you up.) In the doorway were two guys, he didn't have time to take in details before the shorter of the two turned and yelled back down the hall. (INTRUDER IN THE THRONE ROOM! A MONSTER HAS BROKEN INTO THE VAULT!)

(You idiot what did you do?) Demona demanded running from the vault. Seeing the two Musk standing at the doorway brandishing a sword and spear respectively, she gave off a cat like snarl and ran towards the terrace. (Let's go.) Without hesitation, she leapt over the ledge and took off flying.

"Oh come on I don't know how to do that!" He yelled after her in Japanese, forgetting to speak in English. The sounds of rapid footsteps make him glance back and see more Musk appear in the door. "Damn it!" Taking his pack, he strapped it to his front, and hopped up to perch on the railing.

Looking down he was overcome by a sudden feeling of vertigo and nearly slipped off the railing. Unfurling his wings, he stared down at the over fifty meters drop, he wouldn't be able to land a fall like that without breaking something. Probably many somethings.

(Stop it from leaving!) Taking one last look back he saw a small group of guards running into the room towards him. 'Guess it's sink or swim.' Taking a deep breath, he jumped out into the void. For years he had been jumping to great heights, and his leap carried him some distance before he hit his apex. Shutting his eyes tight and opening his wings fully, he waited for the feeling of gravity kicking in, plunging him to his doom.

Except it didn't happen, his new limbs acted on instinct, spreading and angling themselves correctly to take advantage of invisible currents of air. Opening his eyes he found himself looking down at the trees far below as they passed by.

(You took long enough.) Demona remarked snidely, appearing in the air to his right.

"I'm flying." He couldn't be bothered to try and speak in English.

(Congratulations, you're now a five year old, you're use has gone up.) He faltered for a moment after getting hit but a sudden bout of turbulence, but was able to recover, if a little shakily. (Come, we'll use that updraft to get above these mountains.)

"Up-draft?" Demona suddenly veered away. Moving with far less grace, he followed, trying to mimic and memorize her movements.

X x x x x x

Demona's perpetually bad demeanor diminished slightly at the cursed human's exuberance. He had started out flying like a shaky child, and she couldn't be sure if it was the part of her that had been transferred to him, or just natural aptitude. But he had quickly become good enough to where she no longer believed he would fall form the sky like a stone.

It had been hundreds of years since she had last seen a gargoyles' first flight. Seeing this cursed human do so gave her mixed feelings. To what extent did she want to cultivate him to use his better form? It wouldn't do for him to decide to keep half of her. But she couldn't let him slow her down, or drag her into petty human concerns.

In the distance, she could see the lights of a small city, and estimated that it would take an hour or two before they reached it. Judging by how light the sky was, it would be dawn soon. "We must land." She called out to Ranma who gave her a funny look, clearly not comprehending the danger they were in to stay in the air much longer. She quickly scanned the range of mountains they had been following for a place to stay.

Folding her wings and dropping, Ranma followed a moment later, flaring them just above the rock she skimmed the surface before landing on a small rocky outcropping. She had chosen this for it's inaccessible location and overhang. Draping her wings around her shoulders, Demona turned to watch the boy falter and then face plant into the stone. Grinding to a halt, he laid on the ground moaning, and she smirked. 'All the luck at flying in the world doesn't save you from a bad landing.'

"Why stop?" He asked, getting into a kneeling position.

"If you haven't noticed, it's nearly morning."

"Oh, right, let me find water."

"I think not, traveling like humans only slows us down, and I would rather sleep than spend more time as one."

"Hey now, I do not want to do that stone thing, it creepy."

"And where are you planning to get water in time?" Feeling the first rays of sun peek over the horizon, Ranma didn't have time to form a retort before they were both stone.

X x x x x x

"Prince Herb." Looking into the vault, in his throne room, Herb shook his head before turning to his advisor. "We've finished cataloging everything in the vault. Only one thing is missing."

"What?" He asked and turned to go sit on his throne. His father's throne actually, but soon enough it would be his.

"An older magical artifact, my Prince, the bracelet of staying."

"I don't remember being instructed upon it."

"It was used before the chisuiton was developed, and only has the power to lock a creature in human form while being worn."

"Is there any spring for the creatures the guards described?" From the description of the guards, they were slightly above human height, with blue skin, and bat like wings. His first thought was the Phoenix, but they wouldn't risk breaking their treaty for a single unimportant bracelet. Should they be responsible, they would have went after the secret vault with the really valuable items in it.

"No Sir."

"And what of our two visitors?"

"Disappeared shortly after sun down and our trackers found something strange."

"Oh?"

"Yes, the tracks changed shape in two places."

"So they were shape shifters, or a hidden spring."

"I've taken the liberty of assembling a hunting party to find their whereabouts."

"No, it's been far too long and they have the advantage of flight. Keep everyone silent, I don't want my father to know about this."

"Yes Sir."

X x x x x x

When Ranma next awoke, he was once again surrounded by stone, however unlike the last time he acted instantly and burst from it with a bestial roar. He still wasn't prepared to associate the sounds he could make with that of big cats though. The release from stone came just in time to be hit by a spray of cold water. Pouting, he wiped some of the liquid from his face. In front of him stood Demona in human form, with a look of annoyance on her face.

"Serves you right." He commented and took his backpack off.

(Shut up.) She snarled.

Taking a moment to survey the storm that was raging outside, he was temporarily blinded by a flash of lightning, and then deafened by the accompanying thunder. Blinking away the spots, he didn't think he would be traveling tonight. Being buffeted by another spray of water, cemented in his mind that he should setup his tent.

(Give me some of your clothes.) Demona demanded.

"Yes yes." He agreed and took his time digging out his tent and a towel. "Here dry off." Tossing the towel to her she wrapped up in it. Strangely, he was merely uncomfortable, while Demona looked like she was hypothermic. While not one to hold a grudge, he was still going to get back at her for tricking him. Turning to stone was not, in his opinion, a good idea.

Setting up his tent didn't take long, it folded away neatly, and only took putting two poles across each other to form it. The floor was rock so he couldn't put the stakes down, however it wouldn't be going anywhere. No, the real problem was that it wasn't really big enough for two people, it could house two, but it was a tight fit.

(If you're done.) Demona seemed determined to try his patience. If she didn't lose some of her animosity he might have to go look for a cure on his own. Then again, flying was a big bonus, though it did not overcome having to take this form to do so. Digging in his pack, he grabbed some clothes, and threw them and the pack in the tent.

"I go get some firewood." Demona didn't seem interested in whatever he was going to do, instead she jumped in the tent.

Leaning over the edge, he was happy to note that there was only about a four meter drop before turning into a gentle slope to some trees. Dropping down, he flared his wings about halfway and slowly came to a rest on the ground. Digging into the loose gravel, he nearly lost his footing before recovering and starting off down the hill.

Claws, he found, tore through trees like they were wet paper. Throwing another small log up to the ledge, he had gone for broke, and had torn apart a large tree in an attempt to test exactly how strong he had become. Before he had been strong enough to, with some effort, tear a tree apart. Now it was laughably easy, and if the effect his claws had on stone was any indication, he might be able to tear through steel. Not that he had any reason to do so.

Jumping up on to the ledge, he dropped some more wood that he had been carrying, and started pushing them deeper, to be fully under the overhang. Finding the driest spot he could, he started to create tinder by rubbing his claws down a log, and making shavings.

"Hey, can I come in?" He knocked on the tent. "Need lighter for fire."

(Make it quick.) Opening the flap, he found Demona inside curled up in the towel he had given her, and if the clothes on the floor were any indication, nothing else. Gulping he slipped in and started to dig through his backpack pockets for the small lighter. Finding it, he grabbed some food and his kettle before sealing up the tent, purposely keeping his eyes off the naked female in it.

The tinder he had created, went up quickly, and within a few minutes he had a decent sized fire going. Opening the lid of his kettle he place it outside the overhang to collect water. Now with some free time, he noticed the small pieces of stone that littered the cave floor. Picking up one, it crumbled to dust almost instantly.

(The stone skin of a gargoyle disintegrates shortly after it is shed.) Demona explained while exiting the tent. Now fully clothed with the shoes the Musk had given them, and if he was right both non torn sets of clothing. Finding a dry spot close to the first, she sat down, and held out her hands to warm them.

"Why turn stone though?" Retrieving the kettle, he put some of the water in the rice tin, before putting it back to fill up. It would be pointless to try changing back with the mist that would occasionally move through the area. He may not know how much water was required to activate the change, but this would certainly do it.

(It has always been like that, we just do.) Rubbing her hands together, the red heads green eyes stared at the tin. (You are making more rice?)

"Yup." Checking the tin, it would be a few more minutes before the rice was done. "Who said you get any though?" He teased, hoping to use it to get back at her.

(You would eat in front of me?)

"You are one who trick me to stay like this during day." He gave her a baleful look and now put the kettle on to warm up. "Lot of good that do."

(Oh yes, we could be a couple miles away by now. However can I live with myself?) She shot back.

"Least you can be human."

(Least you can be a gargoyle!) She hissed.

"What so great about that?" He snarled.

(I suppose it was too much to expect you to understand, what with your real form being that of a human.) Bristling, they entered into a staring contest.

"You are happy enough to wear human cloth, eat my food, steal from us. I no see how you can act so su-su-superior."

(You think I need these things? I don't need anything from a human!) Standing up she pushed her pants down to the ground and then pulled the shirt up and over her head before throwing it to the ground at her feet. Now only in her halter top and loincloth she kicked the clothes into the fire.

"AHH MY CLOTHES!" He yelled in Japanese and dived forward to try and grab them from the fire. Retrieving the last two sets of good clothing, he quickly threw them on some of the wet floor and patted the flames out. Holding them up, his lower lip quivered, they were ruined, and that meant all he had was the clothes on his back.

Using the now hot water in the kettle to change back into human, he stalked off to the tent and got inside. Immediately he noticed that Demona had made a mess of his pack in order to get his other set of clothes. Repacking everything away, he laid out his sleeping bag and got inside. She could sleep outside and freeze for all he cared.

'She's even more annoying than the old man!' Staring up at the top of the tent, the wind outside picked up and tried to move it, but his weight kept it in place. The light from the fire was keeping everything brightly lit. Unfortunately he was also wide awake, completely, utterly, totally awake.

Rain started to patter heavily against the side of the tent as the wind picked up, and stayed up. He had to roll over to the upwind side of the tent to stop it from rolling over on top of him. As he laid there being buffeted by the side of the tent, the light outside started to dim, until finally it went out. There was an angry cry from Demona and then the clattering of wood.

Resigning himself, he opened up the tent flap, and was instantly hit by enough water to send him back into cursed form. "If you do not want freeze to death, get in here." He called to Demona who was still sitting next to the last dying embers of the fire.

(I don't need your help human.) She got out through clattering teeth and trying to shield the fire from going completely out.

"You are one who complained about being slowed down. How much use will you be if you frozen solid." She gave him a glare that caused her eyes to glow a pale red, but she relented in the end, and came to slip into the tent. "Here." Slipping the rest of himself out of the sleeping bag, he pushed it towards her. "Need more than me."

(Do not think this endears you to me human. I only came in here because I would be weak if I remained outside.)

"Whatever." Laying down on his side with his back to Demona, he figured this might be a long night.

X x x x x x x

Author Notes:

I don't have much to say. Well I suppose I can explain that the pair used each other as templates. So Ranma looks similar to Demona in gargoyle form, and the opposite is true for Demona in human form.

While I know this will cut into my writing time for other stories, some of the possibilities this one hold, as well as the fact that it won't get out of my head, means I'll be working on this a lot in the next couple weeks.


	2. Always a Price

"Speech"

'Thought'

(Language the current character does not know or is not fluent in)

A small note before beginning. I am purposely being vague and leaving out details for scenes that don't involve Ranma or Demona, since Ranma is the lens the Gargoyles world will be viewed through. I am including the other scenes to fill in the backstory and help explain their motivations.

X x x x x x

"We'll be landing in five minutes." Ranma jerked awake from his nap.

"Finally." Demona remarked as their travel upon a private jet drew to a close. Ranma marveled at just how much cash she had to throw around. She had literally walked into an airport and outright bought a plane. She had then cleared up all the mess of passports and paperwork, he didn't even think it was possible for something like that to go through so fast. However poor she was at surviving in the wilderness as a human, she certainly knew how to manipulate people.

After a brief layover in California, they had set off for New York City. He had kept his face plastered to the small window, taking in the sights as they passed. However little the amount he could see from so high up or during the night. That thought brought him back to how they had gotten here.

The trip back to civilization had ended the night after getting stuck in the storm. It had ceased shortly before sunrise and he hadn't been able to get hot water before turning to stone. When he had awoke, he found that Demona had been able to get some during the day, and had resumed her true form. Which was easy to figure out, because she was bursting out of stone just as he was.

He detested the idea of being frozen in place during the day, unable to move or defend himself. Over the years of training, he had honed his skills, until he could defend himself in his sleep. Explaining how much he hated losing his defenses, Demona had actually seemed to agree but had turned it around on him, saying that she found becoming a human just as crippling.

Glancing over at Demona, he could see her point of view. Even though he was back in his real body, what he should always have, he found himself wanting to find some water to be able to fly again. It was the most liberating and exciting feeling that he had ever felt.

"What?" Demona asked, catching his glance.

"Nothing." His English over the past couple days was now at the point where simple conversation was possible.

He was also thankful to Demona for giving him some money for clothes. This was after he had explained that people would not look favorably on him and his torn up gi, or her and her stone age wear. So now Demona was wearing a simple dark red Chinese dress down to her knees, with slits going up both sides to her hip, and some matching red high heeled shoes.

While he on the other hand, had picked up some black silk pants, and carefully cut a tail hole in one. For his upper body, he picked several navy blue tai chi shirts that came down to his knees in the front and back, which he had tied with a belt around his waist. In the end it came out looking like Demona's loin cloth, so if he changed back to a human while wearing the shirt, he'd still be covered. In the back of the shirt he had cut two slits, and then pleated some material to cover them when not needed to let wings through.

X x x x x x

Shoving the shoes he had gotten from the Musk into his pack. Ranma upended a bottle of water over his head, and changed form. Taking a moment to stretch his arms, legs, and wings, he wanted to be sure his clothing modifications would hold up. Tucked away in a dark alley, the plan was to change forms, and then fly to her home across the water and most of the city. From there, she would summon up the one who started this named Puck, and then he would be cured.

Scaling the three story build that made up one side of the alley, he perched himself on the edge and waited for Demona. "Follow behind me and copy what I do. The air currents in the city can be hard to navigate and I don't want you to plunging to your doom, now that I'm so close." She explained and jumped off the edge towards the city. Hesitating, he still felt weird jumping off a perfectly good building, but followed after a moment.

Coming in from the ocean was a decent strength breeze, but gaining height was still difficult, and by the time he was high enough to not be spotted by the people below, his wings were dead tired. Demona didn't wait at all, glancing back briefly before heading towards a large suspension bridge. Once on the island they turned south.

It seemed like Demona knew some of the best spots to get updrafts and would occasionally go out of her way to get them. They certainly made flight easier, that was for sure. Whatever muscles worked the wings on his back, were not designed for heavy use.

"DEMONA!" Someone roared from a building below, and his guide veered away.

"I can't let them find my home." She called back to him before dipping down between building. Repeating the act, the wind rushed past him due to his increasing speed and the wind tunnel effect of the buildings. "Here!" Catching himself at the last moment, he flared his wings, and swung himself up to land on a ledge next to Demona.

Passing by second later, were a trio of gargoyles, in various colors and shapes. There was a green overweight one, a small khaki colored one with wings not on his back but spread from his arms to his legs like a flying squirrel, and a red skinny one with a beak like face. As soon as they passed, Demona peeked out around the corner, before laughing. "Fools."

"So what was up with that?" He asked, wondering why she had wanted to hide.

"Some of my former clan who turned on me." She explained. "If they found my home, their detective friend would start asking too many questions, and I really hate moving." Peeking out, he saw three forms take off in separate directions. "We'll have to find some place to lose them."

"Uh, why not just turn human and walk past them?" Demona looked surprised for a moment.

"No, I have a better idea, this will cause problems for Xanatos."

"Who?"

"A scheming human with too much time and money on his hands. He's closer and it will draw their attention to him. Getting up to the castle may not be easy, so follow me closely."

"Uh－ alright." Following her off the side of the building, he noticed immediately that the small gargoyle had noticed them. 'Ah man I really don't want to get in a fight with this body yet.'

Immediately Demona started catching every updraft she could, until she found one that never seemed to end. The word 'castle' suddenly seemed very fitting, when he saw one sitting on top of the tallest building he could see. A large glass section below showed off the underside of the castle, and turned into a forested atrium before becoming a normal skyscraper. Taking a moment to glance back, two of the trio were following, but as they drew closer to the tall building, they suddenly cut away and headed off in a different direction.

Demona didn't seem to care, instead she continued to use the currents of air to rise up just high enough to land on the lowest battlements. Shortly after, he did so as well, immediately he had to fold his wings to avoid being blown off from a sudden gust of wind.

"They stopped you know." He told the gargoyle as she walked down a flight of stairs that came down from the battlements into a large courtyard. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he hopped down from the ledge after her.

"They went to tell Goliath and the rest of the clan. I doubt they'll come here though, and it gives us an opportunity to rest."

"What is this place?"

"My former home, the castle Wyvern."

"Why is it on top of this building?"

"You're full of questions."

"Hey, when someone puts a castle on top of something like this, the normal reaction is to wonder why."

"It was to break a spell and leave it at that." He was going to press for details on the spell, he was sure that she knew a way to fix him, but he honestly wanted to know more on how they were broken. Just so he could lord it over his old man's head of course.

"Ah, Demona, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" A man in his late thirties with a goatee and ponytail exited from a large door in the stone wall to walk towards them. He was dressed in a business suit, but lacking a tie, all done in shades of black and gray. Following behind him was an uptight looking man with blond hair and a dark blue business suit. "And who's your new friend?"

"Shove it Xanatos, I am NOT in the mood for your games."

"I'm just trying to be hospitable. After all, It's not everyday that someone gets to meet a gargoyle." The man Xanatos said without missing a beat and extending a hand to him. "My name is David Xanatos, welcome to my humble abode."

"Saotome Ranma." He took the mans hand carefully and shook it. Right now he was out of his league in terms of what was going on, so until he figured out where he stood, he'd let the man think he was a gargoyle.

"Sounds Japanese."

"Cause it is." He let the mans hand go, mindful of his claws, and the damage they could inflict.

"You still haven't said why you are here Demona. I doubt it's just a social call." Xanatos' eyes lingered on him a moment longer before switching to said woman.

"Goliath's flunkies spotted us traveling and I do not want them to find my home."

"Fine by me, please, I'm just about to have lunch, you're free to join me if you like." Immediately he perked up at the mention of food. This guy could call him gargoyle all day long, so long as he got food out of the deal. He just flew in from Teterboro airport and boy were his wings tired. "Owen, could you have more food sent up?"

"Of course Mr. Xanatos. Do you wish anything in particular?" The blond asked him.

"Uh no, whatever is good."

"And you Miss Demona?"

"You know what I want." She said sharply and with more venom than he thought you should ever respond with, when someone offers you food.

"The usual then." Owen replied without being fazed.

X x x x x x

"This is great." Ranma said through a mouth half full of food.

Demona watched as Xanatos grilled the fake gargoyle for information. She had to give the human credit, he was a master at manipulating people, not that she thought Ranma could have figured it out anyways. He seemed bright enough, but was far too trusting, and Xanatos usually was able to manipulate people disposed not to trust him. Though she did agree with Ranma, the food was excellent.

"So what clan are you from?" Xanatos asked smoothly from his place at the head of the long wooden table. In the fireplace, a large fire was roaring, and that along with several large candles were the only light sources. It was cozy and felt like a throwback to the days when this castle was still in Scotland. Though the red carpet and paintings were a new touch.

"He's from one in Japan." She interrupted before the boy could say something no gargoyle would. Ranma had already screwed up and included a surname when introducing himself. Who knew what else he would say next?

"You've been traveling." Xanatos smiled at the idea. "I heard you were involved in some altercation with Goliath several nights ago."

"It was unexpected." She answered and tore some meat from a bone. That was encouraging, Xanatos was on the island at the time of Puck's spell, which meant he had been changed along with everyone else, but he had no recollection of it. Otherwise she knew he would be mentioning it.

"Surprises make life worth living." Xanatos boasted.

"I prefer to have goals." She shot back. 'Like getting rid of all of you.'

"But what happens when those goals are done? I say you should take life as it comes and enjoy yourself. Goals are nice, but they shouldn't be the why."

"I agree with him." Ranma butted in.

"Do you?" Xanatos leaned forward on the table.

"Well yea, it's funner that way." Ranma shrugged.

"Ah, a gargoyle after my own heart. Do you plan to be in town long? I may have some work if you're interested."

"I don't really plan to be here long, just until－ me and Demona get something over with." She almost smiled, pleased that he didn't blurt out any information about the curse.

"That's too bad, if you change your mind though, I can offer significant incentives."

"I do have one question."

"Ask away."

"Why is there a castle on top of this building? Demona said something about a curse."

"Some gargoyles were trapped in a spell that kept them in stone until this castle rose above the clouds. So I did the literal, put it on top of the world, and voila the curse was broken." She gave Ranma a glance, this time pleased with how he had gotten information out of the sneaky human. The simplicity was almost devious in nature, certainly such an innocent question couldn't have any harm in answering.

If he was a mage in training, he would have just learned one of the first lessons, that all spells had to have something to negate their effect. Once cured, she may have to keep him around, just as a servant during the day of course. His personality seemed malleable enough to work towards her goals, so long as she could rationalize it in a way he understood.

"As fun as it is to converse with you. We really should be going, things to do, places to be." She stood up and gave Owen a sideways glance. 'Oh yes, I'll be seeing you later.'

"We'll be in touch." Xanatos smiled and stood up, clearly intent on seeing them out.

"Thanks for the food." Ranma bowed his head to the man.

"You're very welcome, feel free to visit anytime." Strangely Xanatos returned the bow for some reason. 'Some human custom no doubt.'

Snorting, she stormed out of the room, Xanatos could play with Ranma later. Now she had to get her cure, and if her former clan got in the way she would simply deal with them this time. That and being in this place only made her mood more foul. Jumping up on top of the castle battlements some twenty five feet above the courtyard, she prepared to take off.

"Are you coming?" She asked just as he came up next to her and look over the side, only to freeze up and stare with wide eyes downwards. Giving off a startled cry he jumped off the edge to clutch at the stone walkway in fear. "What is wrong with you?" She demanded.

"Too－ high." He shivered and dug his talons into the stone.

"You got up here just fine." She growled.

"That's up, not down!" He squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

"What's the difference when you have wings fool."

"Too high, don't wanna." Gritting her teeth, she noticed that Xanatos was watching this with amusement.

"Quit acting like a stupid human." She growled to lowly for Xanatos to hear. Grabbing his tail she tried to pull him backwards and over the ledge. This only caused him to grip the stone with his talons harder.

"Having troubles Demona?" Xanatos asked now coming up to stand nearby, like a shark sensing blood in the water. "We have an elevator if you want to start off lower."

"He's just being difficult." Giving one last tug, Ranma remained firmly locked in place. 'Stronger than I expected him to be.' Releasing his tail, she grabbed him by the waist and pulled. This time due to the force of her pull and him ripping into the stone, his holds tore out, allowing him to be thrown over the side. "You didn't see that." She gave Xanatos a glare before following after Ranma.

X x x x x x

"Did any of that seem strange to you Owen?" David Xanatos asked his eternal assistant as he retired to his office.

"Stranger than a gargoyle who's scared of heights, Sir?"

"That too." Strumming his fingers on his desk, he pondered the absurdity.

"I'm not sure what you mean Sir."

"Have any of our winged friends ever introduced themselves with a surname?"

"No I can't say that they have. They seem to have an aversion to naming conventions."

"Indeed." Taking a moment to work through what he knew, there was simply too little information to work with. "If he returns make sure you accommodate his every whim. No reason to alienate the boy like Demona surely will."

"As you wish Sir."

"And Owen, more tea please."

"Yes Sir." Spinning his chair around, he gazed out the glass wall towards the southern end of Manhattan.

X x x x x x

"You threw me off a building."

"So?"

"The tallest building in the city."

"I don't know why you are making such a big deal out of it. You're not dead or injured."

"That's beside the point!"

"Before we get to my home." Demona shifted the conversation away from his wounded pride. "I want your word that you will not tell a soul of it's location."

"You what?" He asked.

"Promise that this remains a secret. You will tell no one."

"Sure sure."

"I said promise!"

"Alright, I promise."

Demona snorted and didn't say anything else. Instead she circled down to a five story building nestled in a large plot of land with trees, grass, a fountain, and large two car garage. The entire area was surrounded by a two meter high wall and looked incredibly expensive to have such a place in the middle of the city. Following, they landed on the roof next to a triangular skylight that ran across the roof, and a meter wide satellite dish.

"This all yours?" He asked, assuming that with all the money she could throw around, that she had bought this place for private area away from the humans she seemed so angry with.

"Yes, and do not forget your promise." Entering the building from a roof access door, he leaned over the railing to look down the center of a stair well going down all five stories. They only went down one floor though, coming into a room with a very high ceiling, and one wall slanted inwards towards the skylight above. Strangely enough all three windows had metal shutters over them. Arrayed around the room and the walls were dozens of stone figures and antique items.

"Stay put and don't touch anything." Demona commanded and left the room, dropping off his pack, he started to look around. Sitting in the center of the room, facing a high backed chair on one end, was a tall mirror. Walking over he examined himself in the reflection, getting to see for the first time, exactly what he looked like from the outside.

He was definitely more muscled, but not as bulky as he had imagined, since his frame hadn't grown that much. His brow had also become more pronounced, looking like a less pointy version of Demona's gold tiara. Reaching a hand up to feel it, he found that it wasn't really hard, and felt more like the cartilage of his nose. Like Demona, his ears were fin like, and opening his mouth slightly, he realized just how pronounced his upper and lower canines had become.

A metal clanking announced Demona returning to the room, in her hands was a long iron chain. When he looked away, he failed to notice how his reflection remained in position. "Stand to the side and don't interfere." She once again commanded and started to wrap the chain around the mirror. Once she had wrapped it around the mirror several times, she connected the two free ends with a padlock.

"Do not talk to Puck when I summon him. He will twist and turn anything you say." Demona explained and retrieved a silver hand bell and a gold ring from a table next to the wall. In a small plastic dish were several feathers, which she grabbed one of. "Do you understand?"

"Yea, I got it."

"Good." Standing in front of the mirror, Demona took a deep breath, and then held up the bell. Using the gold ring, she rung it four times.

"Cum aescerat argentum, et aurum involare." She spoke before blowing the feather towards the mirror. Magically the surface of the mirror started to waver and distort, the feather twisted and flipped in mid air, until it came into contact with the mirror, only to slip through the surface. "Postea Puck ad speculum Titania penetrare!"

A bright green light grew in intensity until it bathed the entire room in it's light. Closing his eyes and having to cover them with a hand to shut it out, a strange humming noise grew and grew until it vanished, leaving only the soft clinking of chains. Blinking, he rubbed his eyes, and opened them to find a short human looking man with the chains wrapped tightly around him kneeling on the floor.

"Did you really need the chains?" He asked and tried to wiggle out of them. That's when Ranma noticed the elven ears peaking out from Pucks long white hair.

"I should kill you right now!" Demona's eyes glowed bright red and she grabbed the front of the chains and started to shake Puck violently.

"Ah but you won't will you?" Puck giggled.

"Not till after you fix what you've done." Demona released the strange man, who floated away, now floating in the air. "Make me a full gargoyle again."

"But wasn't it your fondest wish, other than getting rid of all the humans, not to turn to stone during the day?"

"That did not mean I wanted you to turn me into a human!" Demona spat.

"But hasn't it proven the least bit useful?" Puck slowly floated around the room on his back. "Think about it, you no longer have to work behind the cloak, you can be up front and deal with humans, deceive humans, play with humans, maybe even love humans? Why the possibilities are endless don't you know?" Demona continued to growl before she finished with a snort and crossed her arms.

"It has proved marginally useful, if only because you put me in that situation."

"And you?" The strange man suddenly zoomed up close to him, sticking his angular face directly into his own. "Aren't you enjoying yourself, just a little bit? You're not that hard to figure out, you've always trained to be strong." Puck flexed his thin arms like a body builder. "You have that plus a little extra. How is the flying by the way?" Puck flapped his arms like a bird and floated away.

"I summoned you Puck." Demona trapped to grab him from the air but missed with a hand. "He is none of your concern except to give back the other half of me."

"Other half? My dear didn't you at least stop to ask the Jusenkyo Guide as to the nature of the springs? That half of you is gone for good."

"What are you talking about?" Demona finally was able to grab Puck.

"The pools work by making you take the form of whatever drowned in them. You my dear became a human female because that is what drowned in that spring. Give and take really, normally the excess magic containing the other form is spread out and dissipated by the spring, lost forever." Puck gave off a heavy sigh. "But when there are two bodies, it goes into the nearest container, acting as the template for the curse instead of the spring itself."

"You mean I've been dragging him all the way back here from China when I never needed to!" She screeched.

"You never had to leave China, those springs all work like Titania's mirror, you could have summoned me there." Puck's disturbingly wide smile was not the best idea. With an roar, Demona threw him into towards a wall, instead of impacting, Puck flew off at the last second unharmed. "That wasn't very nice."

"Get rid of this curse immediately! Make me a full gargoyle at once!"

"But what about your new friend? Hmm? Do you still want to go back to being all human?" Puck asked him, heedless of Demona's snarling. "Or maybe I'll just fix that little water problem of yours. Think about it, human during the day, and you don't have to worry about turning to stone anymore. You get all the benefits and none of the drawbacks. Including some benefits that you don't even know about yet." Looking at Puck, his mind started to work out the possibilities.

"What are you suggesting Puck?" Demona still looked primed to rip the man's head off.

"Why just changing the trigger, that's all. Something to let you move freely through the human world without having to worry about an accidental splash of water revealing your true form. No longer vulnerable during the day and still your gargoyle self at night."

"No more accidentally becoming human? I wouldn't have to worry about falling from the sky?" Demona seemed to be warming up to the idea.

"I'll do it." He broke in and crossed his arms. "I- I want control." Turning his head away, he felt ashamed over admitting that he liked this form, even a little. He liked flying, he liked the innate strength, and if he had control over the change, then it was as good as any cure right? It would be nothing then to go back to his normal life if he didn't have to worry about water. He could go out flying when he wanted, sort of a vacation from himself.

"How about you?" Puck shifted towards Demona.

"So long as I am not bound to another human. As disgusting as that form is, there are some uses for it, and it is better than being helpless during the day."

"One change of trigger coming up!" Puck rose up into the middle of the room and then immediately dropped down to the floor. "But before I do I want to be freed of these chains."

"And how would I know you'd keep your word." Demona barked.

"Puck keeps his promises, you know that, and if this is all you wanted me for－ though I could try getting rid of all the humans on the isle again if you wanted?"

"Fine, fix the trigger and then I hope never to see you again." She reached up and crushed the steel padlock holding the chains together, allowing them to fall to the floor.

"Deal, changing the control for never seeing me again." Puck shot up into the air again and his eyes started to glow the same green color as the mirror before. "Controlled before by waters pour, however worry not about such anymore, for when the sun rises and sets, it shalt now your form reset!" Around Puck, green light exploded, blinding both of them, and when it vanished, Puck was gone.

"That didn't sound like control to me." He said glancing around worriedly.

"That's because it isn't." Demona looked ready to break the first thing that offended her. "There is no control, he just changed it so we change at sun rise and set." Giving off a roar, Demona smashed the mirror, and crushed more glass underfoot as she moved to sit down on the high backed chair.

"How can you be sure about that? Maybe water still works." He suggested quickly, staring at the broken mirror, with the implications of the incantation started to set in. "Where's your hot water?" Demona pointed towards a door. Rushing out, he found a large kitchen, and continued to sit at the sink for a full hour splashing his face. But no matter how hot, or how much he used, he remained in his cursed form.

X x x x x x

Elisa Maza stepped up the last step into the clock tower above the Civic Center. Pulling the stair cord, she hauled the steps up after her, just to be sure no one would accidentally wander up. It was always a risk that someone might find the gargoyles during the night or day, but the clock itself had been broken and abandoned for years. The funds simply weren't there, so for the time being her special friends were safe from prying eyes.

"Uh, what's up?" She asked, finding the entire clan in a circle discussing something. All five plus Bronx greeted her warmly and started to explain about a new gargoyle who was seen flying with Demona up to the castle. "So what are we going to do?" She look at Goliath for an answer.

"I do not know." The large heavily muscled purple gargoyle replied. "We assumed that we were the last."

"Aye, but that has been proven false once before with Coldstone." The older Hudson pointed out while stroking his beard.

"But that was with gargoyles we knew, this one was new." Lexington chimed in, the small tan gargoyle sitting on the steps leading up to the door in a clock face.

"So maybe there's another clan that you don't know about." She suggested. "You could try asking."

"It's too close to morning to risk going out in search. Tomorrow night we'll go out and find out what's going on. Demona cannot be allowed to do as she pleases." Goliath gave his order.

"I'd love to help you guys, but I'm on duty for the second half of the day, and that's coming off my shift tonight. If I don't get some sleep I'm going to crash on my feet."

"It's alright Elisa." Brooklyn smacked a fist into an open palm. "We can take care of Demona."

"Agreed, Demona isn't one to be underestimated, but together there's no way she can defeat us." Goliath gave her a toothy grin.

"That's great, but do you mind if I steal the chair? I need to get a nap, and it looks like the suns about to come up anyways." There was agreement from the clan, who filed out the clock face to take their positions outside to spend the day guarding the tower. Flopping on to the chair, she yawned loudly, and curled up to get some rest.

X x x x x x

The water in her kitchen hadn't stopped running for over an hour. Glancing down at the chair arm, she realized she had been shredding both of them. Forcibly stopping her hands, she rose from the chair to go shut the annoyance off. Puck had tricked her once again. Strangely, she was so angry that she wasn't feeling violent, and Demona always felt violent.

She had never felt a need to prepare food in the way a human would. This room had been included with the building, at first she had left it to collect dust, but had since grown fond of the refrigerator. Shutting off the hot water tap and turning on the cool, just to satisfy her curiosity, she was happy to find that it no longer caused her to become human. That done, she turned her attention to the next matter, and that was the human turned gargoyle laying crumpled, face down, on the floor.

"You should be happy, you've moved up the food chain." She remarked and turned to walk away.

"I didn't want this, I wanted control, I said control." Ranma choked out and shifted slightly, drawing his limply spread out wings in towards his body, before letting them fall back to the floor again. "What have I done to myself?"

"No, what has Puck done to us." She reworded his statement.

"Puck did?" Ranma asked slowly.

"It's all his fault, he knew what you wanted, and he chose to do the wrong spell." Yes that was it, this wasn't her fault at all, Puck was the manipulator here.

"What good does that do me huh? You broke the mirror! And now I'm stuck like this every night!" He exclaimed in a strained voice, briefly rising up to glare at her, before falling back down.

Taking a good long look at the human who, as distasteful as it was, was now technically as much a gargoyle as her. It would be almost ironic if he could come to accept the truth about humans, it was tempting enough that she would have to think on it some more. Demona didn't say anymore, choosing instead to walk away, pity was something she had long grown out of, and he would get over it.

X x x x x x

Dawn, he could feel it even in the dark kitchen, sitting with his back pressed up against the refrigerator, having remained in the room to wallow in self pity. It was like the coming and going of the sun was hard wired into this body. A tremor ran through his body, signaling the start of the change. Moaning from discomfort, it felt like some intangible force was pushing in on him from all sides. The pain wasn't unbearable, like a full body muscle cramp, but compared to the nearly instant change before, it was very noticeable.

When it passed after fifteen seconds, he stared down at his human hands, and gulped. What had he done that was bad enough to warrant the mistake he had made? Had he done something to screw up his karma this badly? Standing, he wavered unsteadily on his feet, before adjusting to the drastically altered sense of balance.

What would he do now? His first thoughts had been towards finding another way to cure himself. But how? This was all he had thought up to, even how he would get back to Japan or China was an unknown. Demona would know, she seemed really knowledgeable about everything, well except for how to survive in the wilderness as a human, but considering the circumstances that could be forgiven. She even knew magic, surely she would figure out something.

He returned to the sky light room and found Demona looking out one of the large windows in the slanted wall, the shutters having been raised up and out of the way, bathing the room in a soft light. "Hey um."

"I propose a trade." Demona didn't turn away from the window but shifted her weight to one leg and crossed her arms. "You fill in my knowledge on humans when I require it, and I'll explain gargoyles to you."

"You're not going to look for a way to fix this?"

"I've been through worse and I have time to find a solution. Being free of the stone sleep is－ for the moment more bearable than the stone sleep itself." Turning, she stepped around the still broken glass on the floor. "There's an empty room on the second floor next to the stairs that you can leave your things in. If you break anything it'll be your head."

"Wait." He called after her just before she left the room. "Don't you have something to clean this up?" Leaving all this glass on the floor was just asking to step on it, sighing, it was his inner clean freak coming out.

"First floor in the closet next to the entrance, and don't bother me, I want to be alone." She answered without stopping.

X x x x x x

Compared to the night before, the day was uneventful, and boring. Demona remained in a room with the door closed, letting him roam freely around the mansion. That had grown boring quickly and he had wandered outside into the large fenced in area. If it wasn't for the sounds of people and vehicles outside, it would feel like a place in the country. So long as you didn't look at the tall buildings that surrounded everything.

The temptation to go out and explore was hard to ignore, but he knew from soaring overhead last night that without knowing your way, all the tall buildings could blur everything together. He needed landmarks and directions otherwise he would get lost. And his reading of English skills were not nearly as good as his speaking English skills. Which now that he thought about it, had become fluent very quickly. 'Obviously it's cause I'm so awesome.'

As the day wore on, he ended up taking a nap that turned into several hours worth of sleep. Grumbling over how screwed up his sleep schedule was, he wandered around the mansion until he found Demona in the big skylight room. She was sitting down on the tall chair, which he noticed now had shredded arms, and was reading through several pieces of old parchment.

"I noticed before that humans did not have to sleep as much, it's convenient." She said while smirking. "I can be up all night and with six hours of sleep I am able to operate again."

"Yea it's better than being stuck asleep in stone." He replied without much enthusiasm. "What are you reading?"

"These are pages from the grimorum arcanorum." She said without hesitation and then paused, before giving him calculating look. "I lost the book itself and the spells it contained."

"Like something that could control the change?"

"Possibly, it will take something of considerable power to change a spell crafted by one of Oberon's children, and mixing magics is very dangerous."

"Oberon's what?"

"The Third Race, what Puck is part of, creatures of pure magic. Enough questions though, it is nearly sunset and I wish to finish reading this page before then. Go wait for me on the roof, you need to learn more of the city, and how to navigate it quickly."

"Sure, I guess." Shuffling out of the room, he would ask later about these magic people, maybe if he found one they could fix the spell. Stepping out out of the roof access door, he was able to catch the last rays of sunshine reflecting off the buildings, before it went dark.

"Oh no! My shoes!" Scrambling he pulled them off just before the change swept over him. Equally as uncomfortable as before, the difference being that it felt like something inside of him was pushing outwards in all directions. Snarling briefly, he stretched to get the kinks out. Wrapping his wings around his shoulders, he crossed his arms, and looked down at the people moving on the street below.

He had never been interested in a normal life before. Traveling the countryside, learning martial arts, and living off the land. That was normal to him for the past year, and for a long time before that when he and Genma would go traveling whenever possible. Since that kind of thing was out of reach for the moment, he would have to make the best of it, and enjoy what little pleasures he could get.

"If you're done watching the humans." Shaking his head, Demona was waiting on another side of the roof, and gave him only enough time to see her before she took off. 'Wonder if she would get pissed if I told her she's just like the old man, follow or get left behind.' Grimacing, he hoped she didn't like cats.

X x x x x x

"Are you still wasting time with your pathetic human fear of heights?"

"Hey, it's just－ high, alright?" Gulping he looked straight down from the top of one of the World Trade Center towers. Demona seemed to enjoy leading him to great heights and then gloating over him. The worst thing about it was that he wouldn't realize just how high he was getting, until he had already reached the top of a building and looked down.

Heights hadn't bothered him before, but then again he had never been hundreds of meters above the ground before. Once he was in the air, he would be fine, it was that first step off, and the thought of falling a long way down that made him pause. Taking a deep breath, he spread his wings, and pushed himself off. Even before he had left the top of the protective fence, the wind had caught the wing material and helped lift him upwards. Demona who had been waiting for him to go first, followed shortly there after.

"It's getting late, you mind getting something to eat?" He asked, noticing that Demona sped up to take the lead, like she always seemed to do. Certainly he wasn't that bad a flier that he needed someone to constantly hold his hand. In fact it was starting to bug him. She glanced back to give him a calculating look.

"You are correct."

"How bout that place?" He suggested, his enhanced vision allowing him to pick out a place on a street with several other Chinese ones. It wasn't Japanese but it was familiar if nothing else.

"If you wish." Demona landed on a nearby rooftop, and he did the same. Immediately digging into his pocket he tried to remember if he had any money with him. Demona had shoved some money into his hands while waiting for their plane to refuel in California to get food, and she hadn't asked for any of it back. 'Seventy three dollars, doesn't seem like a lot.'

"Want anything?"

"No." Demona replied with a strange little smile spread across her face.

"Suit yourself." Dropping down into an alley, he caped his wings and walked out into the sidewalk to take a right and into the shop. It was later at night and mostly empty, so no one noticed him right away, and he was free to walk up to the counter and examine the menu printed on the wall behind. 'Bleh I can't read that I'll have to ask.'

"I'll be with you in a moment." The guy behind the counter said from where he was preparing something. Shifting irritably over his lack of reading skills, his tail whacked a nearby chair, startling a woman who was eating her food.

"Oops sorry bout that." He apologized. "It's kinda new."

"That's alright." She started and turned to look at him. The high pitched scream she emitted, made him wince and move to cover his ears. Instantly the other six patrons turned to look at him and the man running the counter.

"It's one of those gargoyle things like on tv!" "You idiot that's just an urban legend." "That's standing right there!" "What's it doing here?" "Someone call the cops!" "Someone call animal control."

"Hey I just want some food." He protested as tables were overturned and a couple brandished chairs. "This is just a curse, I'm really human." When more foul comments went his way, he started to leave. "Jerks." He muttered just before something wet bounced off the back of his head. Grumbling he looked back to see a fountain drink cup had been thrown.

Snorting, he gave the one who threw it an annoyed look, and left the building. Apparently his presence had alerted the few people nearby outside, who were now acting like he was some kind of wild animal that had wandered into the city. Giving them a passing glance, he padded into the alley, and with a single leap cleared three stories to start bouncing back and forth between buildings. There were gasps from the quickly growing group of people at the alley's entrance, but he ignored them to finish climbing the six story building.

"What's there problem?" He asked Demona, the blue gargoyle was looking down at the people below with disgust. "Sure I don't exactly look normal now but－ all I was trying to do was buy some food. And I'm really human." Something about how they looked at him, struck one of the few fears he had, and ruined whatever good mood he had been getting in.

"Are you?" She asked and stepped away from the side. "Perhaps you should go down and explain that, I'm sure it would be really easy to prove to them."

"I could if water still worked."

"Oh yes, I'm sure that would set their minds at ease, a gargoyle turning into a human in front of them. You would send them into a panic."

"But if they saw that I was human."

"They would see you as a monster who turned into one of them, it would be even worse than simply being seen as a beast. Just like how your father did."

"Pop? What did he do?" Now he was confused, the last time he had seen the old man, was when he was chasing after him.

"I didn't want to say anything at the time, but before we left those pools, I saw him watch us leave."

"What do you mean?"

"He didn't even ask where you were going, doesn't that tell you everything you need to know?"

"But Pop's would never, he－." Bowing his head he didn't know what to think. "I don't know."

"We should leave, someone will come to investigate." Demona took her time going to the far side of the roof, away from where he had come up. "Gargoyles are the only ones who can accept you now, humans will only hate and fear you. You've been given a gift to rise above their nature. Come, we'll return home and eat there."

He moved mechanically to follow, maybe she was right, or maybe not fully right. People could be stupid, spend five minutes with his old man, and you could realize that. But they weren't as bad as she made them out to be, they just couldn't be.

X x x x x x

"Quickly this way!" Demona commanded and veered sharply to the side, hoping that Goliath hadn't spotted them, glancing back, she cursed because he had. On any normal night she would be happy to take a shot at destroying him. But she had plans for the night, plans that his presence may interfere with, and she couldn't have that.

Weaving through several buildings, Ranma followed without much enthusiasm. 'Damn, this is no time for this.' Raising up, she pushed off from the ledge of a building, to gain some height. Giving another look back, she found that they had continued to follow, even with her weaving through buildings and getting objects in the way. With a quick flare of her wings, she came down to rest on the top of a large roof.

"I take it they're not friendly?" Ranma asked.

"You're a trained warrior correct?"

"I'm a martial artist."

"Whatever, take the other two while I handle Goliath. While dangerous, they are bumbling fools, and should be easy to defeat. When you get an opportunity to leave freely, take it, I'll meet you near the castle building."

"Who's Goliath?" He asked just as the large heavily muscled lavender gargoyle landed heavily on the roof. "Oh, I guess that's Goliath." Following him were Brooklyn and the heavy set Broadway. "Maybe you should let me take the big guy."

"Goliath, how nice to see you." She said conversationally, it wasn't, but he was a sentimental sap and who knew where a little pleasantry would get. "Brooklyn, Broadway, long time no see."

"What are you up to?" Brooklyn demanded and took an aggressive step forward, only to be stopped by Goliath.

"Demona, I do not know what you are up to, but surely dragging another gargoyle into it, isn't what you want."

"All I'm up to Goliath, is going to get a bite to eat, so if that's all you wanted to say, ta ta." Waving, she could see that Brooklyn was close to losing his temper. "Let's go." She said to Ranma, purposely avoiding use of a name, the less information they had the better.

"Wait." Goliath protested and she turned to give him an annoyed look. "We cannot simply let you do as you please, you're too dangerous, and unstable."

"Oh Goliath, I could say the same thing about you, but we can argue the semantics some other time. This island is big enough for both our clans."

"Both?" The two accompanying Goliath asked.

"Of course, yours." She pointed a talon towards Goliath. "And mine." She finished and placed the palm of the same hand to her breast.

Goliath growled and narrowed his eyes. "I do not know what game you are playing Demona, but you and I both know that I will not stand for your manipulations after all that you've done."

"What exactly am I doing? Aside from－ enjoying the night." She asked, knowing full well that they were only tracking her at the moment, to find out more information about Ranma. Looking into Goliath's eyes, she knew that she was going to get away from this rooftop without raising a talon. The old fool still looked at her with hope in his eyes. Even after everything she almost and would do to him. All it would take was not being hostile.

"You are right."

"Goliath you can't be serious!" Brooklyn pleaded. "She's obviously up to something, we can't just let her do what she wants!"

"As much as I am in agreement, Demona is not at fault tonight, and we have no cause to fight." Goliath took in a deep breath through his nose and then blew out. "We can only hope that she is turning over a new leaf. However I would like to know."

"I don't believe it!" Brooklyn interrupted Goliath and ran forward, intent on attacking her, and she prepared to defend yourself. "I won't let you trick him like you did me!"

Demona barely registered Ranma's movement, but in a single fluid movement, he had stepped in front of her. Grabbing Brooklyn's left hand, Ranma let him pass before twisting it downwards and behind the red gargoyles back. Applying pressure, Ranma redirected all of Brooklyn's moment to smash face first into the roof. "Sorry bout that." Ranma smirked and pulled away from the dazed gargoyle. "But we were just leaving."

"Indeed." She gave the recovering Brooklyn a menacingly sneer before she left the rooftop with Ranma in tow. A glance back, let her know that they weren't following, though they were watching. Laughing to herself, she couldn't believe what a fool Goliath was.

Still, Goliath was not an opponent to be taken lightly, without a weapon of some kind, she could only hope to delay him. There was also the matter of Ranma, she didn't know if it had just been a fluke on Ranma's part, or a true indication of his skill. Certainly he was fast and agile as a human, she had seen that while watching him chase his father, it was whether or not he could handle himself as a gargoyle that she wondered. But there would be other nights, or other days should she find their home, to deal with them.

X x x x x x

Almost purring with satisfaction, Ranma felt immeasurably better now that he was full, and able to relax in a plush reclining chair. Demona's pantry wasn't varied, consisting mostly of meats, breads, and some potatoes. But it was plentiful and seemed to appeal to the taste buds of this form. Closing his eyes, he stretching out all his limbs, and then fell limp.

Best guess he had, was that this was a converted apartment building, with all floors but the ground being a former unit. The ground floor was more open and struck him as a lobby type area. Each floor had a living room, four bedrooms, a self contained bathroom and toilet, and a kitchen. Most however were all used as storage for the countless items that Demona had collected. The only ones that seemed used were on the fifth floor, where this room with several expensive lounge chairs and a couch resided, along with a gigantic flat screen television connected to the satellite dish on the roof. A single elevator next to the main entrance gave access to every floor.

The television seemed kind of weird to him, since she really did like people, so why would she have something that showed only human programming. Shrugging, he grabbed the remote, and tried to find a decent program to watch. 'Infomercial, infomercial, infomercial, oh, there's my problem, it's four thirty in the morning.'

"How long have you been training to be a warrior?" Demona asked, appearing at the doorway.

"Martial artist, and ever since I could remember, it's just been me and Pop living together, and training." He replied and sat up. As soon as they had gotten something to eat, she had disappeared to go do whatever it was she did.

"You did well in taking out Brooklyn, while not the best fighter, he can be dangerous."

"That was nothing, he looked pretty fast, but he didn't have any skill. I mean, blindly charging at someone?" Well now he had a name to go with the red gangly gargoyle. Compared to the others he had seen, this Brooklyn, had looked the least human, having a pronounced beak like mouth. "What was that clan thing anyways? You mentioned it before and they seemed to get worked up over it."

"It is like a gargoyles extended family, commanded by a single leader who decides the clans actions. For my former clan, that leader is Goliath."

"Why is it your former clan, if it's your family?"

"Goliath sided with the humans who wiped out our clan." Demona's eyes glowed red briefly, before she closed them. "That's enough questions for now, besides, clan business is for gargoyles only, humans are not allowed." Without waiting for a response, she left the doorway, and he was alone again.

'Not that interesting.' He thought snidely and went back to finding a good channel.

X x x x x x

"I still can't believe we just let them go." Brooklyn continued to berate him as they landed at the clock tower. Goliath didn't immediately give his clan mate a response, too engrossed in his own thoughts.

"Yea Goliath, I don't know why we didn't follow em." Broadway added.

"Because past actions or not, we were the aggressors tonight, and we gain nothing from attacking Demona."

"You're back." Elisa spoke happily from the doorway into the clock tower. "Have any luck?"

"We did indeed find them." He started.

"But we let them get away." Brooklyn finished for him and he looked crossly down at him.

"Brooklyn, Broadway, go find and tell the others to return to the clock tower." He commanded and the two left, albeit reluctantly.

"I take it things didn't go as expected." Elisa remarked as they watched the two go.

"Not at all."

"Want to tell me about it?"

"Demona seems to want peace, at least temporarily, between our clan, and one she seems to be starting." He finished slowly, almost tasting out using those words to describe something with Demona.

"She's bad enough on her own, I don't want to think about what she could do if she had help."

"I know." He took a deep breath and brushed some stone fragments off the railing around the clock tower. "But I can't help but think that this may very well be what she needs in order to cease her vendetta."

"How so?"

"One of the harshest punishments for a gargoyle who has betrayed the clan is banishment. To be clan-less, alone, and with nothing to protect is nearly unbearable. Demona's misplaced rage may stem from this anguish."

"Seems kind of farfetched to me. She didn't change her attitude when she was reunited with you."

"I know." He remarked sadly.

"And what's to stop her from twisting him around her little finger?"

"Nothing, nothing at all, but forcibly splitting them apart will not endear him to us. We will just have to wait and hope that if she doesn't change, that he'll come to us on his own. Before any harm comes to him or anyone else."

"I don't like it, but there's not much I can do to change your mind now is there?"

"For now, but tell me, how was your night?"

"Uneventful, but I have one more shift and then three nights off. After that I get put back on nights so I can spend more time with all of you." Elisa gave him a smile and sidled up next to him.

"When you are away, your presence is always missed."

"Likewise."

X x x x x x

It was October twelfth and David Xanatos was admiring the city stretched out below him from high atop the highest tower of castle Wyvern. He had always found being on top of the world an invigorating experience. It wasn't the warmest of days, made worse by the extreme height, and so he quickly retired to his office. While slightly less impressive, the view from his office window was still taller than all but the tallest of buildings, and was far more comfortable.

"Mr. Xanatos." Drawn from his inspection of the city, he turned to find Owen holding a folder. "I have the information that we got from the investigation in Japan."

"Ah, good, anything worth noting?"

"Nothing conclusive, though there are some sightings of winged creatures around a small city named." Owen took a moment to search for the information. "Ishimura."

"Anything else?"

"We checked the registries and no Saotome's exist in the area. There are many dispersed around the country and curiously enough we did find one with a member matching the new gargoyles name."

"Really?" That had been something Owen had suggested, maybe a clan of gargoyles were using legitimate means to acquire wealth and property. Which wasn't unheard of, Demona certainly fit that bill, and if one monkey could do it the others could too.

"Yes, from Nerima, a ward of Tokyo. Not many listed relatives and searching deeper, we found that they are actually human."

"Ah, a dead end then."

"Apparently."

"No bother, at least we know about this Ishimura place now, and we can investigate it at our leisure. How goes my acquisition of the Cauldron of Life?" He changed gears, the cauldron was one of his more long term projects that was hopefully going to come to fruition soon.

"The movers are placing it in its room as we speak. We've also gotten word from the stone mason on the progress of the Hudson statue."

"And?"

"There were problems with the stone and will have to make another, he is reporting that it will be ready by the second week of December, barring any more problems of course."

"Unfortunate, but I'll just have to wait, and I do still have to find a replica for his sword."

"Is there any reason for that Sir? We know that it is surrounded by stone during the day. Wouldn't it be easier to simply have it carved?"

"Oh it would be much easier, but anything worth doing, is worth doing right."

"Of course Sir."

X x x x x x

Swooping in, Ranma came to rest on top of a roof access door to take a break. He really had to let his wings recover from the workout he was giving them. Not that he was being all that successful, the muscles that worked them were very strong, but only for angling and support, not the flapping motion needed for flight. Or he could just be doing it wrong, either way it wasn't working.

This was of course after he realized that life as a human in Manhattan was very limiting compared to his usual life. He had started off trying to spend most of his time awake as a human, since that was his preferred form. However it didn't take long for him to realize just how little he could do as an illiterate, illegal alien, with no way to make the money everything seemed to require. Demona was giving him a place to stay and food in exchange for the odd request now and then, but she couldn't care less about him wanting to explore the city during the day.

Living with Demona was different than traveling with Demona. There were long stretches of time where she would avoid him. Then out of nowhere she would ask a strange question on something, for some inexplicable reason, and then it would be silence again. At night, she seemed determined that he would become a good flier, an activity that he did look forward to. However, for every jump in skill he acquired, she always seemed one step ahead of him, and he looked forward to the challenge.

He did find her commanding attitude grating, but living at her house, and eating her food left him little room to complain. He knew it was putting off making a decision, finding his father was what he should be doing. At the same time, it was also the last thing he wanted to do, because what if Demona was right? Not knowing that answer made his life easier, simpler, and he liked simple.

Water wasn't a problem any longer, no, now he had to deal with turning into a gargoyle every night, likely for the rest of his life. He couldn't stop it through sheer force of will, or even delay it, sun up and sun down, it happened regardless of what he wanted. Without finding Puck, and he didn't know if he wanted to, there was nothing he could do about it.

"Hold it!" Someone shouted from a nearby rooftop. Investigating, he found that a man and woman in gold costumes with patches of fur at their shoulders, were running from several security guards, by bounding over the duct work like acrobats.

"This looks interesting." Launching himself off the roof he followed from above. 'Wish I had brought some snacks.' Now the problem became if he should help or stay out of it. The two apparent robbers looked very skilled at tumbling, while the eight security guards were barely able to keep up. 'Might as well only step in if someone's going to get hurt.'

The five story building they were running on ended soon enough, which meant the duo had to turn and face the guards. Circling, he landed on a nearby rooftop, and sat down on the edge to watch. The guards all carried clubs, while the two, had sharp metal clawed gloves on each hands. Watching the duo take guards out, he had to revise their skill level, they were definitely better than he had expected. Nothing he couldn't do blindfolded, but skilled none the less.

All in all, he thought they were doing pretty good, that was until the woman got tangled up on something on the roof, and taking a hit from a guard, fell over the edge. 'And here we go.' The building was five stories high, which meant she would be falling too far, and would get hurt. Planting his feet, he pushed off, and rocketed towards the falling woman.

His momentum struck her hard, and she gave a pained yelp. Grabbing her around the waist, he planted a hand into the wall, which wasn't enough to stop him as his talons ripped through it like paper, so he had to plant his feet as well, creating a long run of tracks nearly to the ground. Sighing in relief, he checked to see if she was alright.

"You okay?" He asked as she regained her senses. His hands and toes hurt slightly but they would be fine in a moment. Her short brown hair was brushed back, except for two tails that extended down from her temples, when her eyes found him, he was taken back by how wild they looked.

"What the hell? A gargoyle?" She exclaimed angrily and pushed away from him before realizing that she was still in the air.

"Hang on a sec." Releasing his holds and dropping to the ground, he let her step away.

"What? You want to take me in yourself?"

"Me? No, just didn't want to see you go splat."

"Hmm." She looked him up and down before putting a metal claw to her lips in contemplation. Sauntering up to him, she ran a clawed hand down his chest."Ya know－ you're kinda cute for an overgrown bat."

"What?" He asked in Japanese, forgetting to use English for a second. Was this woman saying what he thought she was saying?

"Ooh, a pet name already, I like it, but the real name is Hyena." He backed up several steps when she tried to rub up against him.

"Huh, no, that was." a metal scraping noise, made him look up as the other half of the duo dragged his claws while sliding down the wall. About halfway down he pushed off with his legs to slow his descent and back flipped down to the ground. Without missing a beat, the man ran past him, grabbing Hyena's hand as he passed.

"Come on Sis, time to leave."

"Oh alright." She groaned and took off with him out into the street, but not before calling back to him. "Seeya lover bat!" Staring dumbly at the street, he didn't know if he should be flattered, uncomfortable, or what he was leaning towards, completely freaked out.

X x x x x x

**Author Notes:**

Translation of the spell used to summon Puck.

_With fire, silver, and gold combined,_

_Summon Puck to pass through Titania's mirror!_

Pucks spell on Ranma/Demona is specifically worked so that there is a work around without breaking. Since all spells must have an "out" but the Third Race is able to get around this so long as it can be bent. It's effect only triggers the change at sunrise and sunset. If only Ranma had something that could go around that.

Why the iron chains? They're needed to keep Puck under control, it's the only weakness Oberon's children have. Hint hint.

I usually find it a detractor from a story when there is magic capable of negating or modifying a Jusenkyo curse, but Jusenkyo is suddenly put above manipulation for some reason, in order to keep Ranma locked or with curse. Ah My Goddess crossovers I'm looking at you. Puck was just playing the long con the entire time, he could have broken the curse and turned them back to normal with a thought, but where's the fun in that?

Sorry about the little plot induced stupidity on Ranma's part, but if you'll notice his attitude towards Demona from the start. He viewed her as different and got over it nearly right away. So why couldn't other people do the same? And now he knows better.

**Location Information**

Demona's Mansion – Located close to Gramercy Park and is her own private residence under an alias.

Clock Tower – In Midtown and incorporates an entire city block to serve as a civic center. It has a public library, police station, city hall, and even a local power station.

Eyrie Building – Located on the southern end of Central Park, castle Wyvern sits atop facing towards the park, and is the tallest building in the world. Serves as Xanatos' personal residence and center of business.

Ishimura – Last clan of gargoyles in Japan and they have strong ties with the village around their temple where they taught bushido. While no kanji is shown in the show, Ishimura can mean "stone village", fitting ne? Too bad it won't be for a while until I can have characters visit.

**Timeline **

September 28th, 1995– Ranma is training at Jusenkyo when Puck transports Demona at the last second to intercept him before hitting the pool.

Oct 1st – Xanatos' proposal to Fox is accepted and the engagement gift of the Eye of Odin is given to her. Alexander Fox Xanatos is conceived on this night.

Oct 3rd – Ranma and Demona arrive at Teterboro airport, Ranma meets Xanatos and Puck is summoned. Puck misleads the pair into accepting a change of trigger for the curse, now making it so the change is activated by the rising and setting of the sun. At the same time Fox begins transforming into a werefox after wearing the Eye of Odin for two days.

Oct 4th – First contact between Ranma and the Manhattan clan, Demona introduces the idea of having a second clan in the city, leading to an implied truce between her and Goliath.

Oct 12th – Xanatos finds out about gargoyle rumors in Ishimura, Japan and acquires the Cauldron of Life. He plans to use Hudson as a primary ingredient and test subject.

Oct 19th – Ranma saves Hyena from falling off a building, she takes a liking to him.


	3. Round and Round

"Speech"

'Thought'

(Language the current character does not know or is not fluent in)

This chapter contains time travel, pay attention to when things repeat, and dates change. I'm sorry for all the retelling of canon, I'm trying to only do the bare minimum to get certain points across.

X x x x x x

October 1st , 1995 Eyrie Building dining hall

Fox slowly picked up a steaming cup of tea, freshly poured by Owen, and sipped at it. Setting down the cup, she gazed across the long table, past the candles burning in the middle, to David Xanatos. He was leaning casually on one arm of his chair, a small smile on his face, and clad in a tuxedo. His clothing offset by her own black off the shoulder dress, exposing just the right amount of cleavage.

"Marry me." He said casually.

"Are you serious?" She laughed once and set down her tea, idly using a hand to brush back her long orange hair.

David stood up and started to walk over to her. "We're genetically compatible, highly intelligent, and we have the same goals." He reached down and took her hand, and she rose to stand next to him. "It makes perfect sense to get married."

"True－ but what about- love?"

"I think we love each other, or as much as two people such as ourselves are capable of the emotion." Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he lead her towards the fireplace, Owen having brought out a small wooden box. Now that she was close, Owen opened the top of the box exposing a large perfect sapphire surrounded by two gold bands curving to form the shape of an eye. Small gold bars completed the jewelry, forming into a short chain.

"For me?" Leaning in she stared in fascination at the jewel.

"To seal the bargain." David added and pulled it from the box to hold in front of her face.

"It's beautiful." The jewel was placed in her hands. "Proposal accepted." She clutched it to her chest.

X x x x x x

October 30th

"You know we could walk faster than this." Ranma commented from the back seat of a limousine. Said vehicle was trapped in traffic, and slowly moving along at a snails pace.

"Wasn't it you who said image was important?" Demona remarked sharply across from him, where she was reading a newspaper.

"When I said that, I meant not looking like you walked out of the stone age, I didn't mean you had to look like you're made of money." Strumming his fingers on the seat, he was getting tired of staring at the front of the paper. "So who's that guy on the front? Looks like he did something bad." Demona flipped to the front briefly.

"Some human who was arrested. Here." She folded the paper up and threw it to him. "I'm done with it."

"Thanks." He replied sarcastically and started to decipher the words. Learning all the the characters hadn't been difficult, compared to all the hiragana, katakana, and kanji that he knew. By the time he had gotten through the article about a guy named Tony Dracon, they had reached their destination, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"This is much different during the daytime." Demona said conversationally as they entered the building, her high heels clacking noisily against the floor.

"You've been here before?" He asked.

"Where do you think I got the mirror?" His red haired companion looked pleased with herself, but kept her voice low, to keep anyone else from overhearing.

Being his first visit, he found it interesting how everything was decorated in shades of black and orange. There seemed to be items from some really far off places, all picked for their macabre or ghoulish appearance. Even a few gargoyle themed items, with monstrous figures hunched over in grotesque displays. He felt vaguely insulted by the display, while Demona looked almost passive about it.

"I'm surprised this doesn't make you angry." He told her, jerking a thumb at the display.

"Why? I prefer that they fear." She replied without missing a beat. "Let's see if I haven't been wasting my time with you." Heels clicking, Demona headed off towards an exhibit to the right. At first he didn't really place where they were going, being far too interested in the massive building, and staring up with wide eyes at the high vaulted ceiling.

"Hey!" Demona stopped his gawking in front of some Egyptian art. "Sight see later, now tell me if you see anything."

"Alright alright." There were people all around, but he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

For the past several days and nights, Demona had been training him in seeing magic. Well the word seeing wasn't the best way to describe it. Magical items didn't glow or stand out in anyway, but something would draw your eye to them. While there wasn't much use to it past identifying items as magic or not magic, it was one of the first lessons when starting to learning magic. He was a fighter, but this magic was powerful stuff, and he would take any advantage he could get.

Demona had taught him this little trick by placing a magic item among several normal artifacts, and having him get into the right mindset to figure out which one it was. It took some time to work out how to do it, especially since it was so subtle, but he could see them decently now. The trick was to look without looking as Demona put it, or as he thought, look without expecting. (1)

"Nothing." He said after a moment of looking.

"Good, let's move on to the next."

X x x x x x

With Broadway's replacement costume in hand, Elisa Maza exited the costume shop, and placed her cargo in the back seat of her bright red nineteen fifty seven Chevy Bel Air. The costume was to replace the one that was lost while filling in for her partner Matt Bluestone. She felt it was the least she could do, since she might not have been able to get out of that situation alive without his help.

An animalistic roar and a human scream made her look across the street to a general store moments before the owner, Mr. Jaffe ran screaming from the door, a magazine rack breaking one of the large front windows behind him. Inside of the shop, the lights cut out, and checking for her service pistol, she ran past the elderly man and drew it. Pausing at the entrance, she heard some heavy breathing and shuffling coming from within.

Stepping through the open doorway, she checked left, right, and center. The only movement she could see was a can that rolled out on the floor a short distance in front of her, where it continued to rock back and forth. Remaining weary, she stepped up and knelt down next to it, before using a finger to stop it from moving and causing noise.

Hearing a crash from deeper in the store, she continued in. Halting at the end of an isle, she jumped out and pointed her gun forward. Sighing, she continued towards the back of the store. Closing in on the last isle, a torn open bag of bread, and then an egg carton were dumped out the end. When she came around the corner, her eyes widened, and she took a step back around the corner. "Oh man."

"Police! Freeze!" She called out and spun around the corner with her gun pointed at the large furred figure that was busy shoving its muzzle full of meat. Elisa didn't fail to notice how much her gun was shaking. Giving her one look, the creature turned and fled towards the front of the store. 'Okay Elisa, keep calm, you can do this.' She tried to reassure herself. 'What I wouldn't give for a big purple gargoyle right now.'

Stepping around to the other side of the isle, she stepped around the corner and found her quarry missing. Next to her, a shape loomed, emitting a deep snarl. Swinging her gun around, it was swatted from her hands before she could react. Scrambling backwards, she found her path blocked by something hard. Elisa could feel its hot breath as it leaned forward snarling and glaring at her with glowing yellow eyes.

Her eyes caught sight of a it raising it's right paw, without thinking, she dove out of the way of its slash, the counter behind her being crushed from the blow. Falling against a stack of flour bags, she reached out and tried to find anything that could be used to defend herself. 'My gun must be around here somewhere!' A hand grabbed her jacket roughly and hauled her up and into the air. Turned towards the creature, she reared back with the only thing she had been able to grab, and slammed it into the creature's face.

Flour exploded, blinding both of them, and she dropped painfully to the floor. Breathing heavily and crawling on her hands and knees, she found her pistol and stood up to face the creature. Before she could try and take it down, bright flashing lights and a loud siren announced the local authorities had arrived. Looking back towards the creature, she found that the store was empty.

"Way to go Maza."

X x x x x x

"This creature was first sighted on October fourth." The screen cut away from a newsman to display said creature leaping over a rooftop. "Since then the frequency of these attacks have increased dramatically." The final clip before David Xanatos turned it off, was the creature being turned away from a police patrol car.

"Another sighting." He remarked to Owen, the door to his office opening. Looking over, he found his fiancée Fox coming through wearing a long tan trench coat, and by the looks of it not much else. "And where have you been hiding yourself my dear?" He asked as she padded swiftly across the floor. Fox paused and clutched the coat tighter to her chest.

"I was－ out taking a walk." She said while avoiding looking in his eyes.

"You are wearing my engagement gift?"

"Of course－ I－ never take it off." She answered and looked away. "Excuse me－ I must be coming down with something." Rushing over to the entrance into their shared bedroom, the door clicked heavily shut behind her.

"Time for plan A."

X x x x x x

Sitting cross legged underneath the shade of a tree, Ranma tried to figure out what Demona had said after their trip to the museum. Something that he had to realize on his own before she would be willing to tell him anything more about magic. Something she said, he had already learned. Scratching the side of his head, he uncurled his legs, and laid down on his back.

The magic he knew of didn't seem to have any reason put to it. Jusenkyo if you fell in a pool would give you the body of whatever drowned in it. Then you were forced to switch between forms depending on water temperature. Thankfully he no longer had to worry about water. Xanatos had said that there was a spell placed on some gargoyles, and the only way to break it was to raise the castle above the clouds.

Puck's spell on both him and Demona changed their forms twice a day. Which now that he thought about it, it was a good thing that he had been a gargoyle when that was cast, otherwise he'd be locked in stone during the day.

And that was the extent to his experience with magic. So what was the common theme that he was supposed to figure out? He hated problems like this, as good as he was at figuring out martial arts moves from seeing them once or twice, he was occasionally hard pressed to figure out the mechanics of how. With magic, the how was even more difficult to figure out, it seemed to him that if you throw around a lot of strange words and just have things happen.

"GAH!" Hopping up to his feet he punched the large tree behind him causing it to shake violently.

"Don't destroy things on my property."

"Eep!" He jumped several meters into the air and spun around to find Demona fidgeting with the cuff of a red business suit. Her hair was tied back in a tight ponytail making her look like a completely different person without her wild spiky mane.

"I take it you have yet to figure it out?"

"I'll get it." He huffed and crossed his arms. "What are you all dressed up for?"

"I have several meetings, it seems now that I am available, the humans I had running my day time activities are interested in meeting me."

"Sounds boring."

"Most human activities are, though I will be chastising some for not being up to my standards." She answered and headed towards one of the gates, probably already having called a taxi or limousine. "You should be happy, Halloween is the one night where you'll be able to walk freely among the humans again." She said snidely and hit several buttons on the wall next to the gate to cause it to slide open.

Glowering at Demona's back, the gate slid shut behind her, leaving him alone to ponder his latest magic lesson. He did have to admit, it would be nice to walk down the street at night, and not have people freak out, even if technically he was hiding behind a false pretense to do it.

X x x x x x

Opening the door to his room, David Xanatos found his fiancée standing before an open window gazing up at the evening sky, wearing the trench coat he had seen her in this morning. "Fox I would like to borrow your engagement present, I want to have it engraved." If he wasn't busy he would find her horribly attractive at the moment, her orange hair waving wildly in the wind, wearing next to nothing.

"No－ I－ I can't bear to part with it." She replied and started to hunch over.

"I'm afraid I'll have to insist." He continued to stride forward and stretched out a hand. Fox suddenly stood up straight while growling, and her left hand shot went out to the side, violently spasming. Reddish fur sprouted over the back of it and a wicked set of claws extended from each fingertip. Growling, Fox collapsed to the floor breathing heavily.

Spinning back towards him, Fox brought up her left hand and grasped the glowing Eye of Odin. Red light pulsed and flared as Fox's eyes glowed yellow, her scream turning to a roar. His own eyes widened and he took a step back as her transformation finished. Ripping the trench coat off of herself, she started to pad purposely towards him.

"I thought so." Reaching into his jacket, he grabbed the tranquilizer gun from it's pocket. Taking aim, he put a single shot into her left shoulder. Roaring, Fox ripped the dart from her flesh and threw it to the side, now moving faster towards him. 'Not good.' Trying to take aim again, she weaved back and forth, stopping him from getting a shot at her body.

With a roar, the gun was knocked from his hand, and he suddenly found himself caught in the beasts arms. Shook several times, he was released and thrown to his bed, Fox leaned in over top of him snarling and pinning him down.

"Owen!" He called out and another tranquilizer gun shot rang out. Above him, Fox gave off an angry roar before collapsing down on top of him. Pulling away, she shredded the sheets above his head, giving him enough room to roll away.

Ripping a drape from one of the posts to his bed, he presented it like a matador, at the entrance to the room, Owen shut and locked the door. The doors shutting distracted Fox from him, and he threw the fabric over her head, before diving in to pin it around her. Owen came in from high and wrapped his arms around her neck, allowing them to drag her to the floor.

With a rip of fabric, they were both thrown to the side, and before he could even recover his senses, there was the sound of wood breaking. Groaning, he sat up in time to see a large piece of door fall off its hinges to the floor. Getting to his feet, he narrowed his eyes at the rips in his bed sheet.

"I knew Fox was an animal in bed, but this is just unacceptable."

X x x x x x

"So this is American Halloween." Ranma dodged some kids, as they ran by in pirate costumes carrying plastic pumpkins filled with candy. Strolling through Washington Square park, there were even some people close to his age dressed up in costumes as well, and he desperately wanted to find some way to join in all the fun. Unfortunately it would be nightfall soon, and he would have to test out Demona's earlier comment.

Finding a secluded spot amongst the trees, he removed his shoes and tying them to his belt, before waiting for the change. Gritting his teeth, he tried to be patient as it completed. Shaking himself out, he caped his wings, and with a small amount of trepidation walked out into the lighted area of the park. Immediately he was hit by several comments pertaining to how great his costume was.

He was also mobbed by a group of young children, interested in the neat costume. Several of them even started to tug on his wings. "Hey don't do that, you'll uh rip them yea." He tried to move away from the inquisitive youngsters. 'I'm not sure if this is better or worse than people freaking out.' He mentally groaned and then one crossed the line by tugging on his tail.

"No." He chastised the boy dressed like some kind of ghost, bending down into the kids face.

"Okay Mr. Gargoyle." The boy replied happily and he was then hit by a bunch of questions on where they could get a costume as cool as his.

"Um, well, in China actually." He replied and scratched the back of his head. "Shouldn't you go find your parents." He suggested, feeling uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting for his form. Seeing that they weren't actually going to leave him alone, he tried a firmer approach, including starting to push through the crowd. "I really gotta go." Many of them pouted but seemed to get the idea and let him go.

He tried to make a hasty exit from the area before anymore small children could spot him, unfortunately he kept getting stopped. It suddenly occurred to him that they all thought he was part of the earlier parade around the park, which had featured many elaborate costumes. Escaping, into a back alley, he decided to find a less active area, hopefully some place not filled with large groups of grabby children.

Several blocks to the South West, he found an entire block having a party, the plus being that there weren't any children. Finding a place to get down to the ground was easy enough, and soon he was back out in the crowd. Immediately he noticed a trio of gargoyles in costumes being appraised by the human participants. Blinking several times, he wondered what the odds of coming across them were, in a city this big. Like wise, they too seemed puzzled by coming across him.

Since the majority of people in the street were adults, it didn't take long for the trio to get free, and over to him. "What are you doing here?" The red one dressed like a pirate with a blue vest and with white and blue striped pants, asked gruffly. 'Oh man what was his name－ Brookwin? Brooklyn? Brooklyn yea.'

"First Halloween in America, thought I'd enjoy it." He replied and leaned casually up against the brick side of a building. "So it's－ Brooklyn, and you're Broadway?" He questioned the heavy set green gargoyle in a trench coat and fedora, who gave a nod and a smile. "And I don't think I've met you." He indicated the small one dressed in a thick leather jacket, white scarf, and goggles on his head.

"I'm Lexington." The small gargoyle presented a clawed hand to be shook.

"Saotome Ranma." He supplied.

"You have two names?" Broadway asked.

"Well kinda, Saotome is my family name."

"Like your clan?" Lexington asked.

"Yea sort of." He agreed, though he added to himself. 'A human clan.'

"So why aren't you in costume?" Broadway asked.

"This is my costume." Looking down at himself, he really was wearing the best costume in the world.

"I get it, not like people will figure out what we are tonight." The big green gargoyle looked pleased with the idea.

"Uh huh, sure." Pushing himself off from the wall, he started to walk away. "Later."

"Hey wait." Lexington stopped him and then started to whisper rapidly to the other two. "We know you're part of Demona's clan, but you're more than welcome to spend time with us."

"Sure, why not?" Shrugging, he was getting bored being around Demona all the time, and who knew, maybe these three were good company.

X x x x x x

Slowly circling above Felice's Meats, a warehouse complete with a large neon sign on its roof. Elisa was carried protectively in Goliath's arms as they searched for Xanatos, who they had seen enter the area after an anonymous call had alerted them to a sighting of the beast that had attacked her last night.

"Looks like it's here." She pointed towards the destroyed door on the roof.

"I think you're right." Goliath responded as a red furred creature burst from a top story window. "Hold on." Dropping quickly, Goliath swung down and kicked the beast hard enough to send it flying into a stack of boxes on the far end of the truck loading area. Goliath placed her on the ground and moved to stand protectively in front of her.

Ripping itself free from the boxes, the werewolf like creature started circling Goliath on all fours. It pounced, Goliath knocked it back with a punch, only to have it recover and start grappling with him. Pulling out her pistol, she looked for an opportunity to help, whatever this creature was, it was dangerous and there was little she could do with her hands and feet.

With a mighty heave, Goliath threw the creature into the metal loading bay doors, denting them heavily. Falling to the ground, it laid still, and didn't move. They both approached the downed form carefully, watching for any movements. A high pitched whine alerted them to Xanatos dropping down to the ground in his red gargoyle armor.

"Xanatos! What are YOU doing here?" She demanded and kept her gun trained on him.

"This is a private matter Detective." He explained and came up to kneel at the creatures head. "I would appreciate no interference."

"Is this another of your mutated victims?" She spat.

"Let's just say I feel a certain personal responsibility for it." Reaching forward he grasp the red glowing jewel at the creatures neck. Red electricity exploded from the contact and Goliath instantly pulled her away. Xanatos cried out and was thrown away into the same boxes the creature had been knocked into before.

"Goliath!" She gave him just enough warning to have the creature grab him from the back.

"You don't have to fight us." Goliath flared his wings, freeing him from its grasp. "If Xanatos is your enemy, then believe me, we are your friends!" With a roar and pounce, Goliath and the creature went over the landing to the street below. Without stopping, the creature bounded off down the street away from them. "Wait!"

Turning her gun on Xanatos, the armor wearing man was just recovering. "You're going nowhere Xanatos!"

"Sorry, business, you understand." Giving her an infuriating smirk, the folded wings on the back of his armor extended, and he took off into the air like a rocket. Putting her pistol back in her jacket, she knelt down on the ground, and put her face in her hands. Goliath came up next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Standing, she looked up into his eyes.

"That poor creature must have been human once." She looked away. "Just like my brother." Forcing herself to think past her mutated brother, she stepped away. "He clearly wants that thing around her neck, we have to gather all the gargoyles and make sure we get it before he does!"

Goliath didn't immediately respond, choosing instead to look towards the Eyrie building. "I think we need more information, before making a decision."

The large gargoyle was able to get them up to the castle just as Xanatos was explaining how this was indeed all part of his plan to get them involved. "Goliath and company are as usual, determined to thwart me. They'll pull out all the stops in order to get the Eye from Fox before I do. They'll do all my work for me." The armor clad man explained to Owen.

"I fail to see how it would be any easier to get the Eye from the gargoyles than from Fox." Owen answered.

"Your manipulations have failed Xanatos." Goliath announced their presence and dropped them down into the courtyard in front of the pair. "I don't supposed you have a plan D." The shocked look on Xanatos' face was truly satisfying. "This time, we won't be your pawns, come." A hand rested on her shoulder to indicate the direction they would leave in.

"Wait!" Xanatos called out and took a step forward. "This situation－ is beyond my control. I thought I could handle it, but." David's shoulders slumped and he looked away. "That creature you saw－ it's Fox. She's been infected by the jewel she wears. Legend says the Eye of Odin is supposed to endow the wearer with power and insight. I had no idea it had metamorphic capabilities."

"Perhaps it can give you some insight into Fox's true nature." Goliath replied. "It seems to have made her more like herself."

"Goliath, please." Xanatos begged.

"Don't listen to him." She interjected. "It's a trick, he couldn't tell the truth if his life depended on it."

"But mine doesn't depend on it." Xanatos came up to place a hand on Goliath's shoulder. "It's Fox's life that does."

"I have no more love for Fox than I do for you." Goliath swatted the armored hand away. "Even if what you say is true? Why should I help her?"

"Because you know what it means to lose someone you love." Seeing Goliath's shocked face only raised her anger.

"Don't even think about it Goliath, can't you see? This is his plan D, if it fails, he'll move on to E and F." Her words had the desired effect and Goliath swept her up in his arms to walk away. The very idea that Xanatos would understand or could sympathize with someone else, was an affront to what he had done to her brother Derek.

"A noble effort Xanatos, but another failure." Quickly climbing the steps he turned them back to the man for one last comment. "Not a good night for you."

X x x x x x

"I like this Halloween thing." Ranma commented to himself, watching some people as they had a competition on who could carve the best pumpkin. He didn't really understand the why, but festivals were always fun for him.

"Hey there's Goliath and Elisa." Broadway pointed to a pair walking down the street.

The trio of gargoyles he found, were not that bad of company. Broadway was a bit of a glutton and seemed to have a happy disposition. Lexington was similar, but lacking the desire to try every piece of food that he could see. Brooklyn was continually suspicious of him however, and he really thought the red gargoyle was taking his defeat by him weeks ago far too personally.

Ranma was surprised to see the large purple gargoyle strolling down the street with a human woman daintily holding on to one of his arms. Goliath had on his usual clothing, a dark brown loincloth bound at his waist with a large black belt and a gold buckle, but the woman was dressed in an expensive gold puffy dress. The whole thing confused him greatly, aside from that one crazy woman, all the other normal humans who had seen him had reacted with fear or animosity.

"Who's Elisa?" He asked the little one, who seemed the most intelligent out of the bunch. Across the street was an area set aside for couples to dance, and Goliath and Elisa joined in. Cocking his head to one side, he found the slow dance that they were doing strangely fascinating. There was nothing overly complicated about it, only a strange surreal feeling from watching a human and gargoyle dance together.

"I'm surprised Demona didn't fill your head with lies about her." Brooklyn said before Lexington could respond.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked angrily. Demona, as far as he knew, hadn't told him a single lie.

"Don't you get it yet? Demona hates all humans, she's tried to kill us several times, and whatever she does is bad news."

"Yea right." Now he knew to tune out Brooklyn's ramblings. "Well see you around." Heading towards the human and gargoyle pair, he was feeling tired from being up all day and probably needed a bath, so he would be heading back after satisfying his curiosity. As the pair's dancing came to an end with the song, he came up behind Goliath with his arms clasped behind his back.

"Hello." He said startling the pair, Goliath immediately taking a protective position in front of Elisa. After a moment, the large gargoyle relaxed, but continued to look at him with suspicion.

"You startled us."

"Goliath is this?" The woman asked, now that he was closer, he could see that she in her late twenties and had darker skin with hair.

"Yes, he is." The big gargoyle sized him up. "Has Demona showed her true colors?"

"Well she's kind of a blue, with red hair, and her wings are more purple." He looked absently off into space, a little put off on how paranoid gargoyles seemed to be. "Just wanted to say hi, and I was wondering if she actually knew about－ well you know."

"I'm Elisa Maza." The woman stepped around Goliath. "And yes I know what he is."

"Saotome Ranma." He bowed his head politely.

"Is that Japanese?"

"Yea, how'd you know?" He asked curiously.

"I took some classes on Japan, mostly architectural and art related ones."

"Ah, never really thought that kind of stuff was interesting."

"Perhaps we should find someplace more private to talk?" Goliath suggested, taking Elisa's hand to lead her to an empty spot, he followed now intrigued by the pair. "Has Demona been mistreating you?"

"I've been through worse." He answered with a shrug.

"If she is, you have my word that we'll help you in any way we can. You're more than welcome to join our clan."

"That's nice and all, but I don't need help." He waved off their concern. A week with Genma was more perilous than the entire month with Demona.

"We all need help from time to time." Elisa added.

"Yes, everyone does." Goliath commented like he was talking about something else.

"What do－ you and Demona do?" Elisa asked trying to distract Goliath from something.

"Elisa we should go." Goliath suddenly started walking away to an alley and came to a halt shortly after starting. "I'm sorry but I must do something, and it is better that you do not get involved." Parting words done, Goliath resumed walking.

"Goliath?" The woman looked torn on what to do before heading off. "Goliath, hey wait up, high heels aren't easy to run in ya know."

"Hmm, I wonder what's up with him?" Groaning, he wondered why something interesting would happen now. All he wanted was to head back to Demona's, take a bath, and get some sleep. Why couldn't the fun stuff happen when he wanted it to happen?

Following from a discrete distance, he jumped up on a two story building, and after reaching a secluded area, the two stopped stopped near a fire escape. With skill developed from years of running from problems created by Genma, he jumped on to the metal structure without a sound, and listened in.

"You can't be considering helping him?" Elisa berated Goliath.

"What if that creature is Fox, and she's dying?"

"We can't believe anything he says, you know that."

"I know－ but that creature is still a threat to my castle, my city. And if Xanatos speaks the truth, if someone like him can love－ perhaps there is hope for this world yet." Goliath looked up, thankfully in the opposite direction of him.

"You're going to help him aren't you?"

"Yes." Goliath admitted grudgingly.

"Good." Along with the pair on the ground, he looked into the darkest part of the alley, where Xanatos was walking out into the light, clad in a black trench coat.

"How did you find us?" Elisa demanded and the pony tailed man snapped a hand forward to pluck something from Goliath's left shoulder.

"Old habits die hard." He joked and threw away a small silver and red disc.

"Anything I can do to help?" Ranma asked from his position crouching on the fire escape, causing the trio to look up at him in surprise. 'Oh how I love doing that.'

"Ah Ranma, thank you but I think me and Goliath can handle it." Xanatos replied.

"Agreed, there is no reason to risk yourself." Goliath added.

"What? I got to pay you back for that meal a while ago." He explained to the man.

"Fair enough." Digging into his coat, Xanatos pulled out a small device. "This way." Slipping off the fire escape, he landed on all fours briefly before following.

"Ranma." A hand fell to his shoulder and he looked up at the larger Goliath. "Do not involve yourself with this, Xanatos is even less of a friend than Demona."

"Uh huh." Brushing the hand from his shoulder, he continued like he hadn't heard him talk.

"You do not seem to realize the peril you are in, Xanatos and Demona are amoral beings, out to satisfy their own selfish ends."

"Are all gargoyles supposed to be paranoid?" He asked, honestly interested in whether or not it was a trait inherent to the species.

"Paranoid? You have no idea what he has done to my clan!" Goliath growled and his eyes glowed white briefly.

"If you two could set aside your squabble." Xanatos drew their attention. "I believe we've found Fox." In front of them a group of around twenty people were running from a hall building. Inside some kind of animal was growling and smashing things. With a small burst of speed, Goliath ran forward and opened up his wings before entering.

Not one to be shown up, he was the next to enter, and immediately scanning the darkness for whatever was causing all the noise. Behind, Elisa entered with a gun she had drawn from－ somewhere, and Xanatos who shut the door behind them. Unsure on how the two would fair in a fight, he kept close just to make sure he could step in if needed. Xanatos seemed to move like a trained fighter, but Elisa did not.

Hearing something from above, he looked up to a catwalk that ran around the second story, and caught sight of a giant red furred beast that let out a loud howl. Before he could figure out what it was, or even get a good look at it, the beast jumped up on the railing and dove towards them at high speeds. 'Wow this thing's fast!' Goliath pulled Elisa out of the way, he was able to go to the other side, but Xanatos didn't seem to get the message and was bowled over.

Seeing that the man was about to be torn into like a hunk of meat, both he and Goliath rushed forward to pull it off. The larger gargoyle got there first and wrapped the beast up in a full nelson, allowing him to drag the snapping and snarling beast away.

"You alright?" He asked Xanatos, checking for injuries, and finding only minor tears to his jacket.

A metallic click alerted him and Xanatos to Elisa cocking her gun. "Sorry Detective, but nonlethal only." Standing, David snatched Elisa's gun from her hand and crumpled it into a useless hunk of metal. Only briefly did he wonder how Xanatos could do the feat of strength so easily, before turning back to check on where the big animal was.

There was more crashing and he watched Goliath thrown from the beast's shoulders and through the front door into the street. The lavender gargoyle slammed into a car that was passing by, pushing the sedan completely across the concrete and into a street light. A moment later the light came crashing down into the street.

"Guess it's my turn." Stepping in front of the creature, it paused, narrowing its glowing yellow eyes. The pause gave him enough time to get a really good look at his opponent. The shape was vaguely humanoid and covered in a dark red orange fur, with a large golden jewel around its neck. Of course the obvious difference was that it looked like some kind of wolf or fox standing on it's hind legs.

Like before, he barely had time to react to the creature's attack, but this time he punched it right in the muzzle with enough force to stop its momentum and make it stagger back. Stepping forward he planted a kick in the center of it's chest. His blow knocked it back to crush an abandoned food stand. More snarling accompanied the creature bursting from the wooden wreckage and racing along the wall away from him.

"Watch out!" He yelled after noticing it was going for Elisa. It changed directions at the last moment and shot towards him. Catching the pair of outstretched claws, he was forced backwards and hit the ground hard. Struggling to push it away, the muzzle full of sharp teeth leaned in before with a mighty leap, it left him to head towards the door.

Scrambling to his feet, he ran out after it, and was just in time to see it leap clear over Goliath and use a couples car as a springboard to nearly reach the top of a four story building. Following, he past by Goliath and used the car's suspension to get a little extra height himself, before scaling the wall. Flipping over the ledge, he landed in a crouch and scanned for the creature. In the center of the roof was a large one story structure that it must have ran behind.

"Wait." Goliath landed next to him. "This is getting us nowhere, we need to pin Fox and take the necklace from her."

"What'll that do?" He asked.

"It will revert her back to human form."

"Why didn't you say so?" Groaning he smacked his forehead. "I could have done that back across the street."

"Powerful sorcery protects it, so it will not be so easy."

"Ya know you suck at giving needed info before going into a fight." He deadpanned, earning a glare from Goliath.

A high pitched whine announced Xanatos landing on the roof, through use of a jet engine on his back, with Elisa in his arms. With his trench coat removed, Ranma could see that the man was wearing strange armor. Around his upper body was a silver portion, each arm had a red gauntlet on the forearm, and the rest of his body was covered by a skin tight black material.

"Take the left, we'll flush her out towards Xanatos." Goliath ordered and headed off to the right without waiting for a response. Having no complaint about the plan, but deciding to modify it a bit, he jumped up to the highest part of the roof, and came face to face with the transformed woman.

"Easy now." He didn't try and close the distance. Right now she was cornered, and whatever intelligence working in that mind didn't seem to be able to work through what was going on. "I don't want to hurt you, but I'm through getting knocked around."

The two glowing eyes didn't show any recognition to his words, and he took a single step forward. The effect was immediate and she attacked. Rather than get a face full of angry two and a half meter tall werewolf creature, he ducked underneath her lunge, allowing Fox to pass by harmlessly. Rolling over, he looked over the edge to see her squaring off with Elisa and Xanatos. "Crap."

Thankfully, Goliath appeared in front of Elisa, allowing him the time to get down behind it. The large purple gargoyle strode forward to receive another attack from the woman turned creature. Grappling, Goliath spun and threw her into the huge neon sign spanning the length of the building. Sparks flew, the impact causing the electricity to hit a ground, and the creature dropped down to lay dazed on the roof.

In an accidentally synced move, both he and Goliath struck it at the same time slamming it back into the sign and causing a huge explosion of electricity. "Now Xanatos!" Goliath yelled and Ranma gritted his teeth and tried to shield his eyes from the sparks shooting out from behind the creature. He also wanted to cover his ears to block out the horrifying high pitched scream being emitted by their target.

Xanatos' clawed hand reached forward and grasped the jewel causing lightning to shoot up his arm and surround him. This only increased the creature's scream, that reached an ear shattering pitch, before something exploded, knocking all three of them across the roof. The sign was buffeted by a magical discharge that made it glow like the sun briefly, before it exploded.

Holding a hand up to shield his eyes, the creature dropped to its hands and knees, the tone of her roar becoming more and more human, and it's body starting to morph. Ranma watched in fascination as the fur receded, the form underneath morphing into that of a woman with bright orange hair and a gray tattoo over her right eye. She stayed on all fours breathing heavily for a moment, and then collapsed unconscious.

Elisa was up and over to the woman, were she pulled off the dress portion of her costume and draped it over Fox. Wincing, he looked down at his left arm, noticing that when being thrown away a set of claws had ripped five long gashes down from his shoulder to his wrist.

Overhead, the rhythmic thumping of a helicopter came closer, which flashed a spotlight before proceeding to land on the rooftop a short distance away. Along its side, a door slid open, and Owen stepped out.

"She's alive." Goliath said to Xanatos. "The Eye, give it to me."

"A trade?"

"Let's just say I don't trust you with it." The armor clad human placed the jewel in Goliath's hand.

"So now you know my weakness."

"Only you would regard love as a weakness."

"Yea I don't really know what you two are talking about, but does anyone have a band-aid?" He asked getting to his feet and clutching his upper arm.

"You're hurt." Elisa cried out and came to inspect his wound, he pulled away when she started fiddling with the torn fabric.

"Owen can you get the medical kit?" Xanatos asked and gently lifted Fox up off the ground to hold her against his chest.

"Of course Mr. Xanatos." The blond left to retrieve the item from the helicopter. Xanatos at the same time helped load the unconscious woman inside. A moment later, Owen returned with a small leather bag and pulled out some scissors.

"Thanks." He let Owen start to cut away his shirt at the shoulder. "Man I liked this shirt too." Though he could always cut the other side short. Looking away from his mangled arm, he saw the trio climb over the ledge and approach Goliath and Elisa. Jerking away, he growled when Owen pulled some cloth out of his skin.

"Sorry." Owen apologized and finished pulled his destroyed sleeve, from his arm. Done with that, he started to wrap it up.

"Thank you for your help Ranma." Goliath nodded to him. "I regret to admit that I believed you might be a kindred spirit to Demona."

"You're injured yourself." He pointed out, ignoring the comment about Demona, and gestured with his free hand to Goliath's chest, where four deep slashes ran down his right pectoral.

"Yes." Goliath spoke slowly. "But I will not let him attend it. I beg you once again, return with us, I fear for your safety should Demona learn that you have helped humans."

"Pass." He stopped Goliath before he could say anything more.

Owen finished bandaging his arm and used some tape to tie the end securely in place. "There, that should remain in place until morning." The man said clinically.

"Thanks." Trying not to move his injured limb, he used his other hand to wave, before heading off the side of the roof to return to the mansion. He would have to get more bandages later, especially since he knew that his wounds were going to reopen and bleed freely when he changed forms.

X x x x x x

Demona crossed her arms, watching her annoyance of a house guest, feed from her kitchen. Honestly she had expected him to return sooner. Ranma was clingy, though thankfully he did not talk to hear himself talk, and kept a respectable distance. For him to remain away for most of the day and night was strange. A very small equally annoying part of her, had even entertained a tiny amount of concern for him. Only because he might cause problems for herself of course.

"You're injured."

"And hungry." He replied sarcastically back, disregarding the hint of concern in her voice, and grabbed some food from the fridge to eat.

"Who dressed it?"

"Mr. Owen."

"Let me see it." Without waiting for a response, she grabbed his arm, and started to unwrap the gauze.

"What are you doing?" He asked and pulled his arm away.

"Don't argue." She snapped and grabbed him once again, appraising the wound that had started to bleed once again. "What did this?"

"That was the weird thing, it was this woman who was turned into this big wolf creature by something called the." He paused trying to remember what the item had been called. "The Eye of Odin."

"You saw the eye?" Demona asked expectantly, pulling on his arm. "Where is it?"

"Goliath took it." Ranma answered.

"Goliath? What were you doing with him?" She demanded, briefly stopping her removal of the bandage.

"What? I was helping him and Mr. Xanatos get the eye thing from that woman, Fox."

"Goliath and Xanatos, working together?" She mulled over the idea. "No bother, I'm sure it's a temporary thing. This on the other hand is a set back."

She indicated his arm, now having removed all but the last bits of gauze at the top, and then started to wrap it in a different way. Nothing significant, just something she had learned from one of her parents long ago, that was supposed to work better over the short term that a gargoyle would have injuries. Rather than the long term recoveries humans required. (2)

"I'll be fine in a couple weeks."

Pausing in her work, she realized just who's arm she was wrapping, and then started again to finish. "It's a pity you no longer turn to stone during the day."

"Why would that be a good thing?"

"Because your arm would have been healed by the time you woke. Or did you think that the stone sleep had no benefit?"

"That would be useful this once."

"You should stay out of the affairs of others, you'll just end up hurting yourself again." She finished wrapping and tied off the end of the bandage.

"Aw, are you worried about me?" He teased.

"Hardly." She crossed her arms and glared at him.. "You're no use to me if you're broken, which reminds me, have you figured out your lesson from earlier." She had no use for an apprentice, no matter how temporary, when he couldn't even figure out something he already knew.

"Uh, heh heh, slipped my mind." He scratched the back of his head with his good arm.

"You should feel lucky that I am not my teacher, he was not as lenient as I." No not at all, that filthy human the Archmage had been a brutal task master who taught her little past the most basic of concepts.

"You've never had to deal with my old man's idea of training."

"We'll trade human horror stories later, go get some rest, it will help you heal." Why hadn't she thought of that before? There were so many things that she had experienced, surely a fraction of those memories could shred his desire to be human into pieces.

"That's what I was going to do until you stopped me."

"Go then." She commanded.

"Aw! But I want to hear more about how you're worried about me." He pouted and she growled loudly before slashing at him. "Yikes, learn to take a joke." Fuming, she wondered why in the world she kept him around.

X x x x x x

Ranma awoke to a feeling of wrongness. Shifting to sit up, he found that he was still a gargoyle, although it was really close to sunrise. He had slept through the change fine before, so that wasn't it. Absently he rubbed at his injured arm, trying to place what the feeling was. As the sun grew closer and closer to rising, the feeling increased, and he started to pick at the gauze. The itch suddenly grew to an unimaginable level and he tore off the bandage.

Starting at the top of the slash marks, his flesh knitting itself back together like a zipper. Gritting his teeth, the speed increased making it feel like his skin was on fire. Crying out, he stood up and held his arm out in front of his body. As the pain intensified, he felt the rest of his body beginning the change back to human. Whimpering, the last bits of now pink skin merged back together, and he fell against the wall to slump down to the floor.

"Ouch." Breathing heavily, he raised his arm, and found that it was completely healed. No long lacerations, no scars, just clean unbroken skin.

"What the hell are you making all the noise for?" Demona nearly broke in the door when coming in.

"Guess we don't have to worry about injuries." He said weakly and held up his arm in her direction. "Hurt a whole lot though."

She scowled but inspected his arm. "So it seems."

"Night." He sagged forward to fall face first into his sleeping bag, too tired to even try and pull the cover over himself.

X x x x x x

November 5th

David Xanatos rocked backwards after a left hook from Goliath hit him square in the chin. A right punch followed, but he recovered and grabbed the gargoyle's outstretched arm. Briefly they struggled, but he was able to step into the larger Goliath, and turned his movement into a hip throw. Goliath landed flat on his back, momentarily stunned, and he followed up the throw by jumping up in the air and coming down with a foot in the place where Goliath's head had been.

Goliath spun while in a deep crouch, and David's feet were suddenly knocked out from underneath him. Rolling backwards, he rose to his feet in time to redirect another punch to his face. Spinning on the ball of his right foot, he kicked Goliath with enough force to stagger the gargoyle. Seeing that there was a lull in the action, he reached up and released the pressure system on his exo-frame armor. Removing the helmet, he took his first breath of fresh, non recycled air.

"It's so unlike you to attack first, I simply invited you here to talk." He said casually and tucked his helmet under his right arm. Behind him was the large neon sign for the Golden Cup bakery, complete with a large golden cup.

"Our previous encounters have not encouraged me to trust you." The gargoyle growled with his eyes still glowing white.

"If you say so. Fox and I are getting married tomorrow night. I want you to be the best man."

"You cannot be serious." Goliath's eyes finally stopped glowing.

"Demona will be there, and she's promised to be on her best behavior." His proclamation had the desired effect, that being Goliath's jaw dropping.

"I－ will need time to think on it."

"Take all the time you want, well up until ten o'clock tomorrow night." Task done, he placed his helmet back on and felt the system pressurize again. "See you then." On his back, the half circle wings unfolded, and his jet pack engaged.

X x x x x x

"Only you can decide what you'll do lad." Hudson intoned. Goliath sighed, his mentor had been very aloof with his advice for this occasion. It was always harder to make a decision without the old gargoyle's wisdom to guide him.

"It's crazy to even consider going." Elisa added from behind him, as he knelt on the railing surrounding the clock tower in preparation to sleep through the day. "Promise you won't."

"You're right." He replied and took one of his usual positions. 'But I did not say I wouldn't.' He added to himself as the sun rose.

X x x x x x

975 Castle Wyvern, Western coast of Scotland

Goliath flared his wings and landed in front of his mentor and his angel. Why his leader had sent him away on an errand was beyond him, but he had happily listened. While Goliath was the second, he was the leader, and it was his orders that the clan followed.

"My love!" His mate leapt into his arms, embracing him tightly.

"We must go immediately or we'll miss Prince Malcolm's wedding." He pushed her away reluctantly from her excited greeting, and they both looked towards their leader for permission.

"Go on then."

"Thank you my Mentor." Together they left the battlement and to the great hall's large curved top windows. Coming to rest first in the center of the three, moments later his angel landed beside him. Smiling to one another, they quietly looked inside. There weren't that many humans inside but they all stood watching with rapt attention to the trio on top of a platform at the back side of the hall. On it stood the Prince and Princess, and a priest between them.

"With this ring, I thee wed." Prince Malcolm placed a gold ring upon Princess Elena's finger. Beside Goliath, his angel laid a hand against his arm.

"With this ring, I thee wed." Princess Elena placed a similar ring upon the Prince's finger.

"Exchanging tokens to seal their pledge of love." He commented. "A strange custom, but fitting." Beside him, his angel pulled something from behind her, and broke it apart with a strange metallic grinding noise. Looking over he saw one half of a strange gold and turquoise shield being presented to him. The other half of the small item being clutched to her breast.

"Take this token of my love, cherish it always, as I will cherish my half. Upon this I pledge my heart to you forever."

"I accept your token－ my angel of the night." Freeing his wings, he brought them forward to wrap up her body, and pull it close to his own. "And vow that you and I are one, now and forever."

X x x x x x

November 6th

"Are you sure you understand how you need to act?"

"No name, no family." He started, ticking off the points with his fingers.

"No CLAN." Demona corrected him.

"No clan." He glowered at her for a moment. "The turn to stone during the day thing, and don't try and warn anyone else. You know I'm not sure why this really matters, you said you would have that Phoenix Gate thingie, so why do I have to hang around and not come forward with you?"

As described to him, the Phoenix Gate was a magical artifact that could travel freely through time with a spoken incantation. Demona had half of it, Goliath had the other, and she needed to attend this wedding in order to obtain the other half from Goliath.

It was sneaky, underhanded, and he didn't understand why she didn't just ask for the other half. After all, she was going back to stop their clan from being destroyed, why would Goliath object to that? Demona had explained that away by saying that Goliath would never trust her with it, and seeing his recent attitude towards her, he could agree with that.

"Because I will not be able to avoid Goliath and make sure you get through at the same time."

"Better yet, why do I have to go at all? You change your past and then we never meet. There done." He shrugged and tried to ignore her glare.

"Because you were mentioned in that letter Xanatos received. Which means you are supposed to go back in time with me. And using the memories from when I was younger, I'll be able to make changes."

"Alright, assuming I believe you about the me having to go back thing. You said something like that before, what do you mean when you were younger?"

"I have already been visited by myself, my memory is hazy at best, but I believe I can set myself on the correct path. Which, if I'm successful, will make it so we never meet." She finished with a huff, having already explained that part several times to him.

"Which means we'll never get cursed." He reiterated.

"Yes." Demona sighed.

"So when do we leave?" He asked excitedly.

"When we sprout wings, now get back to figuring out what every spell has." Demona stood up from her seat.

"But why can't we go out and－ out and－." Realization came over his face.

"Yes?"

"That's what every spell has, some way to fix it!"

"What do you mean－ fix it?" She turned back to give him her full attention.

"Um, well Jusenkyo the curse is turned on by cold water, but hot turns you back. Puck's spell turns on and off in the morning and at night. And Xanatos freed some gargoyles by raising the castle above the clouds."

"So?"

"So spells need to have something that－." He floundered for a word. "Turns them off?"

"Close enough, even though you did take forever to get it, you did get it."

"HA! I told you I would!" Laughing, he leaned back in his chair, and put his hands behind his head. "So what do I get to learn next?"

"How to quit being annoying."

X x x x x x

Xanatos stood at the lowest gate into the castle, directly overhead sat the tallest tower, and coming down to land in the courtyard in front of him was his own personal helicopter, piloted by his bride to be. He was still clad in his red gargoyle themed armor, for little reason than it was a pain to get off, and he wanted to meet his father when he landed. The helmet had been left inside, he could control most required functions with the sensor controls lining the spine of the suit.

The helicopter landed perfectly thanks to the expert flying of Fox, and she hurried to exit the vehicle to open the door for Petros Xanatos.

"Hello father." He said happily at the man's cross look. Fox removed her sunglasses and sauntered up to him in order to plant a firm kiss on his lips.

"Don't you know it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?" Petros asked in his usual disapproving tone.

"Fox and I make our own luck." Smirking, he pulled her close to kiss her again.

"I'll go change for tonight." Fox ran a hand through his hair and leaned in once again for a kiss. That done, she headed off.

"What do you think of the place?" He asked his father.

"Why do you need all this?" Petros waved a hand.

"Oh reason not the need father, I wanted it, so I took it."

"And the armor?"

"I assure you, it's purely defensive." Growing bored with his fathers foul attitude, he headed into the castle up the three small flights of steps into a gatehouse.

"Against what? What kind of life do you lead? You would have been better off as a poor fisherman like me." Petros berated, nearly chasing him inside. "If I ever get my hands on the man who sent you that coin." His father growled. "I swear I'll teach him not to meddle with my family."

"That's ancient history Pop, besides that coin was only worth about twenty grand, and well." He spun around to face his parent. "Now I'm worth considerably more."

"An anonymous stranger sends you a museum piece worth a fortune. All this came from that, you didn't earn any of it boy."

"Some day I'll prove to you that I am a self made man." His father continued to grumble about work ethic and how he needed to learn some proper values. All very boring and it was very hard to concentrate on what was being said.

His metal boots clicked on the marble floor of the Great Hall, which was due to have the decorators arrive in a half hour. Coming out from an elevator was Owen and a black robed figure.

"Ah, Judge Roebling, thank you for coming early." Extended an armored hand, he shook the judges hand. Being careful not to activate the tiny electric motors that would crush every bone. "We have a video for your both to view before the ceremony." Motioning and moving towards the door leading to his office. "The best man, maid of honor, and another attendee are－ somewhat unusual." Stepping away to let his father and Judge Roebling pass through the door, Owen came up behind him.

"Are you sure Goliath will actually show up?" His servant asked.

"Oh, he'll be here, I'll bet my future on it."

X x x x x x

Instead of landing on the lowest part of the castle, Demona continued on until the second internal wall, where she finally set down. Ranma followed her because this was also part of the plan. She needed to show him where to meet her again. Goliath he had already seen arrive, since they had purposely came late.

"It will be about two hours before I return."

"So you said." He replied and caped his wings.

"Now to change history." She said with a grin, hopping off of the battlement to fall one story. He joined her a moment later, and walked through another wall before finally being able to enter the Great hall.

The long rectangular room was the largest in the castle area. Hundreds of flowers decorated the windows and raised platform at one end. Bows and streamers came down from the center chandelier to connect to the outside walls. Going down the center of the room was a wide white carpet, and already standing at the head of the room was David Xanatos, an older man, Fox, Goliath, Owen, and a man in a black robe.

David was dressed in a dark gray tuxedo with black trim, a small gold pendant displayed on the left side of his jacket. Fox was wearing a white wedding dress with a skirt instead of a dress. The old man was in a cheap looking tan suit, and Owen was in his usual blue business suit.

Seeing him and Demona entering, both the black robed man and the older man standing next to Owen gasped. Goliath gave him a weary look and then focused his gaze on Demona. The female gargoyle paid him no mind and walked up to stand at Fox's side.

"Demona." Goliath started.

"I'm only attending this because Xanatos insisted, and I need to keep him as an ally. I neither know nor care why you are here."

"This is not the first wedding ritual we have attended together. Don't you remember?"

"I'm not interested in reminiscing."

Ranma joined Owen and the older guy off to the side. Demona's acting skills were certainly nothing to laugh at. Here she was openly lying to Goliath, and all it seemed to do was make him more interested in her, the large gargoyle angling himself to keep her in view.

"We are here today to join David Xanatos－ and what is your real name my dear?" The robed man, likely a priest turned to Fox.

"Fox is my real name, legally."

"Ahem, to join David Xanatos and Fox, in matrimony. The rings please." The glassed wearing man turned to Goliath, who dropped something in David's hands. On the other side, Demona did the same, but with far less care. The couple came together and slipped the rings on the others finger. "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife."

Demona turned and moved to leave the room, Goliath in an almost scripted action, followed after her. Raising an eyebrow, if he had eyebrows in his current form, he watched Xanatos and Fox take off after the pair. "And now the fun begins." David said to Fox.

"This is your wedding! Have you no respect for anything?" The older man demanded and grabbed David's arm.

"I'm sorry Pop, I'm in a bit of a hurry." Prying the hand from his arm, David and Fox strutted off after Demona and Goliath.

"Unacceptable." The elder man growled and stormed off after the newlyweds.

X x x x x x

Demona placed her hands atop the stone railing of a terrace. She could hear the heavy steps of Goliath echoing as he followed he through a tower, and out on to the rounded vista. Everything so far had gone according to the plan. In mere moments she would have the other half of the Phoenix Gate and then she could change her past.

"Long ago, we also exchanged vows." Goliath came to stand several paces behind her. "I know you remember them." From under his wing, he pulled out the half of the Gate she had stupidly given him so long ago. "I promised to keep this always, and I have."

She turned to look at her one time mate, noticing how pleased he looked with himself. Reaching behind her back, she pulled out her half, allowing herself to smile as she placed her half into his. "As have I." The broken Gate immediately fused itself back together with a small crackle of static. Pulling it from Goliath's hand, she stepped back and laughed cruelly, his smiling face turning to one of shock and betrayal.

"Goliath you're a sentimental fool! Now I have the Phoenix Gate, and I intend to use it!" Raising the Gate up into the air she recited the incantation. "Deflagrate muri tempi et intervallia!" The Phoenix Gate glowed and a bright sphere of light expanded from her hands. Ranma, the two humans who had just wed, and that third old one, jumped in at the last moment before they were transported back in time.

"It seems the honeymoon has begun earlier than expected." Owen Burnett noted after the group had disappeared.

X x x x x x

975 Castle Wyvern, Western coast of Scotland

Around Ranma, the intangible sphere of fire flared once, and then disappeared from view. Along with the fully human members of the party, he looked around in wonder at the forest, he now found himself in. Without missing a beat, Demona took off with Goliath in tow shortly after.

"Where are we?" Xanato's father asked.

"Not where, when." Xanatos corrected, pointing at the far away castle which was a duplicate of the castle atop the Eyrie building. Only it now sat on a cliff overlooking the sea.

"975 actually." He supplied. Even being forewarned of what was going to happen, he was just as disorientated as the rest of the group.

"Thank you Ranma." David gave him a cheery smile. "And I believe we have an appointment in that direction." Xanatos pointed in the general direction of the castle, but away from the open farmland leading up to it, and deeper into the woods. "Shall we my dear?" He asked Fox.

"We shall." The orange haired woman replied and kissed David on the lips before sauntering off in each others arms.

"And what is your part in this－ gar-goyle?" Xanatos' father asked him accusingly.

"Trying to fix a mistake." He replied and hurried after the pair. When he reached them, they were taking a leisurely stroll in a park. Pausing, he heard a metallic clanging noise coming from somewhere up ahead.

"Let's not keep them waiting." David said cryptically, now jogging with Fox. Rolling his eyes, Ranma wondered if he should just let them go off and do whatever it was they were supposed to do, while he went for the castle. Then again, if those noises were any indication, it meant the people fighting had weapons, which meant it was a serious fight.

'I better not have some woman turned werewolf butcher my arm again.' He grumbled, casting a glance at Fox. Blaming her wasn't productive, so he didn't, but he did feel a strange sort of kinship with her. She had been changed into something against her will, the only difference being that she had lost herself to it, and seemed to have forgotten the whole event.

Stopping at the tree line before the forest opened up into a large clearing. He looked out into the open area, where six humans on horseback were fighting with swords and shields. Four of them were dressed with the same red hoods. The other two had darker cloaks on, a man in red and woman in black, neither of which looked to be doing well.

Seeing that the woman was about to be stabbed in the back, he leapt from his position, and landed in a crouch on top of the back haunches of his horse. Snaking out a hand, he grabbed the guys wrist and pulled the blade from his grasp with the other.

"Nice sword." Not really, it was dented and not well taken care of, so he grabbed the hilt and the tip and bent it in half. "Here you go." He gave it back to the stunned bandit.

"A gargoyle!" Another hooded man shouted, drawing the attention of the others.

"It must be from the castle, kill it, kill the beast!"

"Are you stupid? We can't fight a gargoyle!"

"You idiots couldn't fight me if I was human." Dropping off the horse, he sprinted towards the nearest bandit. Jumping upwards over a sword slash, he planted a foot in the back of the bandits head, and knocked him off the horse. Landing on the ground again, he looked at the remaining two bandits, the third still staring at his ruined weapon. "Who's next?"

"Let's get out of here!" One yelled and the two turned to run away.

Ranma's eyes glowed white for second, and caught up with them before they could even turn around fully. Yanking them off their horses, he threw them towards a tree where they bounced off, falling to the ground unconscious. "Cowards." Brushing off some imaginary dirt, he remembered the first bandit, who was just noticing that he was alone. "Boo."

"AHH!" Screaming, he galloped off, and this time Ranma let him go.

"Very impressive." David and Fox both clapped, having retrieved the freed horses, the older man still having trouble getting up on his.

"Aw, these guys were wimps." He scratched the back of his head, mildly embarrassed to be congratulated, when he hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Do not be so modest gargoyle, you fight like a demon, even for one of your kind." One of the two he had just helped commented, removing his hood, showing straw colored hair in a bowl cut. "We are most grateful for your gargoyles aid strangers, but we cannot－." The man paused, catching sight of something while looking at David.

"Aw, good friend, I am the Norman ambassador." His demeanor had changed from guarded to instantly friendly, pulling off his right glove to show a gold ring on his middle finger. Done with that, he proceeded to shake David's hand. "My companion and I, bear precious gifts for Prince Malcolm of Wyvern. You wear strange garb, but your gargoyle is an excellent fighter." He returned his glove and whispered something to Xanatos. "I would be honored if you and your party would accompany us the last few miles to castle Wyvern. Prince Malcolm will be very generous in appreciation."

"You're most gracious." David said to the Ambassador who did not seem to be waiting for them, then turned to him, and patted the horse. "Ride or fly?"

Hopping up to sit with his legs hanging off one side, he smirked. "Every time I'm around you I gotta beat someone up, I think I deserve to be lazy."

"Fair enough."

"I see your far more strange than your garb." The ambassador commented. "Letting a beast ride a beast."

Narrowing his eyes, he growled lightly, not liking this guys attitude at all. He had just saved his life, and now he goes off and insults him? Crossing his arms, he glowered, thinking that these medieval guys needed to learn some manners.

X x x x x x

Passing underneath the high arched gate into the first courtyard of castle Wyvern, Ranma was awed by the differences between the times. In his time, it stood empty save for Xanatos, Fox, and Owen. But here in the past, it stood as a functioning building, lived in by dozens, perhaps hundreds of people and a large number of gargoyles.

Hopping off the back of the horse, he noticed immediately that the only people paying attention to him in the least were the armed guards, who looked ready to attack him. Crossing his arms, he had no fear that they could do anything to him. None of them looked particularly well trained, and Demona had told him that they were nothing more than show, the real guards of the castle were the gargoyles, the humans were just to discourage attackers during the day.

"We are much pleased at your arrival ambassador." A man exclaimed, moving down the steps in a long red robe with a blue cape trailing behind him. "But where pithy tell is my bride?"

"It was hoped, that by traveling in secret we could avoid the attentions of rogues and thieves." The Ambassador explained, the woman who had been in the group, removed her hood.

"We were wrong." She explained and turned to look back at his group of time travelers. "But thanks to these kind strangers and their gargoyle, who rescued us most valiantly, and saved my life." With a flourish, David Xanatos bowed to the man in red, who Ranma now knew was Prince Malcolm. Ranma nearly spoke up that it was he that stopped the bandits, but remembered that he was supposed to be seen not heard, so he settled for glaring at the ambassador.

"These tokens are but the first of your rewards." Digging into a satchel at his side, the Prince gave a handful of coins to David. "Tonight you'll have fine food, fine lodging, and fine clothes. Your gargoyle is free to socialize with his kin, I'm sure the simple creatures will find no fault with his company, they are a communal sort." Turning his back, the Prince walked up to the Princess and gently rested a hand against her cheek.

"This attack on Princess Elena, makes me anxious, we shall be wed this very night!" He pronounced and started to walk up the stone steps towards an elderly man with a large staff. "Prepare the great hall!"

Glowering at the man, he didn't like how Demona's comments were being proven true. People in this time didn't appear to have the freak out response people in his time had to seeing a gargoyle. Instead they had a treat him like some kind of smart animal response. Truthfully he wasn't sure which annoyed him more.

"I'll take you to your quarters." A boy no older than himself told the Xanatos family, making a point to exclude him by stepping between them.

"Just a moment." David came over to whisper in his ear. "Don't take it personally."

"What makes you think I take it personally." Brushing aside the tuxedo clad man's concern. "I got some place to be anyways." About to walk away, a stout tan gargoyle slightly shorter than himself, came to rest in front of him. Like him, he was wearing full clothing where most he had seen wore just the bare minimum. Unlike him, he had white hair, a full beard, and six small bump like horns that swept back from his temples through his hairline.

"Welcome lad." He greeted warmly. "Come, I would speak with you."

"Alright." Giving one last glance at the group he had arrived with, he followed the old gargoyle. He had time before he had to be in location to meet with Demona again.

"What clan are you from lad?"

"I don't have a clan." He answered, walking with the old gargoyle on top of a wall.

"No clan? Was there a massacre?"

"Never had one." Almost rolling his eyes, he wondered what the fascination was with clans for gargoyles.

Part of Demona's instructions for this to work was to not give clues that he wasn't really a gargoyle. Saying he was from Japan would be like saying he was from the moon in this time. The only thing it would do would be to make them suspicious of him. On the other hand, if they thought he was an orphan, out on his own, they wouldn't view his strange behavior as anything to be suspicious of.

"And yet you travel with humans－ strange and dark times we live in. How long will you be staying?"

"Day maybe two." He answered, though it should only take them a night to do what they were here for.

"You're welcome to remain, our pact with the humans protects us during the day."

"I'm fine." He really wanted to tell the old guy that he would be dead in a few years, betrayed by those same humans, but if he said too much it would change events, and then it might happen in a different way. Lacking first hand experience with the events that lead up to it like Demona, he might even cause it. 'Ugh this time travel stuff is too complicated.'

"It's your choice lad." Looking up suddenly the gargoyle cursed. "What's he doing? I said the battlements." Glancing up, Ranma saw Goliath soaring overhead to land on the tallest tower.

"I need to attend to him, only advice I have is to keep clear of the humans lest you cause trouble for yourself and me." Without waiting for an answer, the gargoyle jumped off the side and started to head for the top of the tower.

"Fine by me, I'm right where I need to be." He smirked and took a seat on top of the stone battlement to wait. "Too bad I couldn't tell you, but hopefully we can fix it."

X x x x x x

"Curse those strangers!" The Archmage hollered and threw a vile containing a glowing green potion to smash against the wall next to her. Putting some distance between herself and the liquid, she tried to remember exactly what that was, and decided that touching it would be bad.

"Because of them, my bandits failed to steal the Phoenix Gate!" Grabbing a skull with a candle burning on top of it, the Archmage threw it against the far wall. "I MUST HAVE IT!" It bounced once against a wall, raining wax down upon the Grimorum Arcanorum. Recoiling, she expected him to punish her in some way.

Calming down, he brushed the wax from his precious magic book, and cradled it to his chest. "With it and the Grimorum, I'll need only the Eye of Odin to secure the ultimate magical power." Turning, he raised a bony finger towards her. "You will still it from the Princess and bring it to me."

"As you wish, Archmage." She stood up as confidently as possible, no longer skulking in the darkness to avoid the Archmage's wrath.

"Go and make haste." He barked and she ran from the lab.

Thankfully the seaside portion of the castle was not guarded during the night, or any other time for that matter, no human could scale its face, and no gargoyle would want or need to. Circling slowly and low enough to be blocked by the castle structure, she looked for, and found the new Princess' room. Making one pass to be sure the human was looking away, she landed silently in the arched window in a crouch.

Slowly she scanned the room, on a large bed was the Princess brushing her long brown hair, oblivious to her presence. 'Let's see, small shield with a golden border and phoenix on it.' As her eyes got to the table in front of her, she found the object was conveniently within reach. Grabbing it, she left silently, and went to a place she knew she would be alone.

Gently she traced the phoenix design with a talon. This was something made of pure magic, not like the Grimorum that was a book imbued with magic. It was enchantingly beautiful, the gold and turquoise surface without any fault.

'I can't give this to the Archmage, he'll no longer need me, but if I don't, I know he'll no longer have me as an apprentice.' She had think, but she had so little time to do it before she was expect back. Blinking several times, she noticed that her thinking spot was occupied, and the strangest thing was that he looked like her. As far as she knew, no one else at the castle had her coloring, so she would have to investigate.

X x x x x x

David Xanatos handed off his envelope to the Norman Ambassador, and stepped back to let the horse turn and head out the gate. They had all changed into period garb, him in a red and purple set, his father in variations of green, and Fox in a lovely blue dress and a long trailing veil falling from the back of her head. She looked simply stunning, and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

"What are you hatching now?" His father Petros asked with his arms crossed.

"That envelope contains my personal instructions for the Illuminati society, plus two smaller sealed envelopes, the society is to wait one thousand years, to deliver the first envelope to a young David Xanatos of Bar Harbor Maine. That envelope contains one of the coins Prince Malcolm gave me earlier, it's practically worthless now in nine seventy five." Pulling out another of said coins, he flipped it in the air. "But in nineteen seventy five, it'll be worth about－ twenty grand."

Fox came over to embrace him. "The other envelope is to be delivered twenty years later, it contains a detailed account of how the coin was obtained. That's how I knew how to set this all up, I received instructions from myself last week. So you see Pop, I am indeed a self made man."

"I'm so proud of you." Fox turned his face and kissed him deeply on the lips.

"Alright, Mr. Big Shot Time Traveler." Petros rolled his eyes. "You set off your little errand boy before answering one important question, how do we get back home?"

"Oh ye of little faith." Kissing Fox again, he headed back into the castle with her in his arms, intending to go up to the top of the tallest tower. "Our ride should be arriving shortly."

X x x x x x

Goliath had never been happier for his mentor's great wisdom than he was now. The gargoyle that would later be known as Hudson had accepted his explanation for where he had come from with only a momentary reluctance. He was also now helping him search for Demona. Goliath could see Ranma sitting off by himself, but even his younger angel was missing. It was troubling, because he knew that his one time love would likely contact her younger self in some misguided attempt to destroy humanity.

Finally he caught sight of Demona, no her younger self, flying in and landing nearby to Ranma. "So that's why Ranma's here." He growled and leaned over the edge to go down and stop them.

"Who?"

Away from Ranma and his young love, the sphere of fire created by the Phoenix Gate flared into existence. "My younger self must not come to investigate!" He informed Hudson before diving off the tower to intercept.

"Aye, I'll belay him."

X x x x x x

"This feels a little weird." He noted, watching several gargoyle children play, reminding him heavily of how he remembered playing with Ukyo when he was younger. Lots of bounding, mostly by him, and mock attacks. 'Wait a minute, I know those three.' It was Lexington, Broadway, and Brooklyn, but they were all much younger, if he had to guess around eight or ten years old.

The flapping of wings behind him, made him turn around and see Demona coming to rest behind him, with the Phoenix Gate in her hands. 'No this is the wrong Demona, she's too young.' She lacked the hard, impossibly old, look to her eyes that the elder did. The rest of her was also younger looking, more soft somehow.

"Who are you?" She asked, hiding the Phoenix Gate from view behind her back. "You're not from our clan."

"Just visiting." He replied and turned away from her. 'Okay, I am not thinking that Demona is cute.' Not that the older Demona wasn't attractive, but she was old enough to be his mother, this Demona was actually close to his age though, and well－. 'ACK! I am not thinking any gargoyle is good looking.' He shook his head violently side to side.

"What do you mean just visiting?" She pried.

Behind, a bright light show of red and yellow, drew his attention. The Demona he knew came into view from inside the sphere of fire that was created by the Phoenix Gate traveling through time. "Who? You look like－ but this cannot be!" The younger Demona took several steps back from her advancing counterpart.

"Oh I am quite real." Demona replied and held up the Phoenix Gate, her younger self clutched her own to her chest.

"But how?" The young Demona asked, her eyes traveling wildly between him and her older self.

"Soon, but first we must go somewhere private. I know from experience that my arrival through the flames will attract one other. Ranma, get close so that we may leave."

"Like I'd let you leave without me." He hopped down from the stone stood next to the older and younger Demona.

"Deflagrate muri tempi et intervallia!" Demona intoned and raised the gate over her head. White sparks shot out from the gate and then they were surrounded by a sphere of fire, and in a flash they were transported forward in time. When the first vanished, he found himself in mid air, and flared his wings to slow his decent into a gentle drop the to the top of a tower. (3)

Goliath, who had somehow piggy backed their trip, was not so lucky, and he went crashing face first into the ground. While he was still trying to figure out how Goliath had tagged along, Demona attacked, kicking the large gargoyle hard enough that he slid across the stone, to lay still. The younger Demona started forward to help Goliath, but was stopped by her older self.

"Yes! I am you, your future self, you know I speak the truth." Demona pulled her double to the edge to look over. "I've come back to give you a warning. This is your future."

Peering over the edge himself, he gasped at the sight. Below the castle lay in ruins, fires burned anything that was flammable, and not a living thing could be seen. Immediately he recoiled from the harsh scent of death and burnt flesh. His eyes found first the human bodies laying on the ground, soldiers and civilians in various positions. Some having died fighting, others killed elsewhere and dragged haphazardly into large piles.

Due to the horrific sight, he nearly missed the the piles of uneven rubbed place all around, indicating the places where a gargoyle had been destroyed in their sleep. They had been turned to dust without even having a chance to defend themselves. A hard lump formed in his throat, knowing that just moments before, he had seen all these people and gargoyles alive.

"The death of our kind surrounds us, your one true love is frozen in stone at night." Demona knocked lightly on the Goliath statue that was crouched on top of a large square battlement in a thinkers pose. He nearly gasped, realizing that Goliath and his clan were the ones frozen in stone till Xanatos put the castle above the clouds. "The humans did this, and you can stop it! You hold the power in your hand." Demona calmed herself down and started to pace.

"To use the Phoenix Gate, you have but to think of a place in time, speak the incantation, and you will be transported. With it, you can accomplish anything." The Gate in the elder Demona's grasp glowed briefly, and she laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you see? Do you see now what I see whenever I see a human? Death! Betrayal! Not just for their kind but everything around them! War is so easy to read about in books but this can be found in none, not even a footnote on the pages of history, all this death is beneath notice to the atrocities they have committed against each other!"

"People aren't like that, if they knew." He gripped the stone underneath his hands so hard that it shattered, sending fragments down to crash to the ground below, disturbing the unnatural feeling of stillness.

"Remember your father, think of his actions when you changed, he had raised you your entire life, and he threw you away without a second thought. That is what humans do, anything they do not understand, they get rid of or destroy. One thousand years have passed from this time to our own, has humanity gotten better in that time? Here they treat you like a beast, then they treat you like a monster. The only thing that has changed is their weapons, from killing with their hands, to wiping out entire cities, entire continents with their weapons!"

Stepping away from the edge, he didn't want to see this, he didn't want to be in this tomb, and he certainly didn't want to admit that in a lot of ways, she was right. His father, the only parent he had ever known, had let him walk away without a word. In the end he had meant nothing to Genma, even though his father had a curse that was just as bad if not worse than his own. Was Demona really right about humans?

"Do not give the Gate to the Archmage." Demona left him to his thoughts, addressing her younger self. "Do not share it with－ do not share it! Use it! Get rid of the humans! Rule the gargoyles! Rule the world! It's all within your grasp!" (4)

"Grr." Goliath was waking up, and the younger Demona ran over to attend to him, but she was stopped by her elder self.

"Believe me, I know exactly how you feel. But you cannot trust him, he's weak, he cares more for the humans then for our clan. The greatest favor you could do him, would be to put him out of our misery forever."

The younger Demona gasped along with him, killing was a last resort, when there were no more options left. What she was suggesting wasn't something he could ever do, it was murder, and Goliath hadn't done anything that justified that. The young Demona tried desperately to pull away, but her older self held her fast.

"Can't you see? I am what you will become!" Demona pulled her other back.

"Never! I will never be like you!" With a snarl, she pulled her hand away.

"I do not wish to hurt you."

"And I do not wish to be you!" The younger charged the older wildly, and was thrown over Demona's shoulder to land heavily on the ground.

"If I must beat this lesson into you, so be it."

"No!" He stepped between the two, finally having seen enough. Demona while right about some things, was clearly in the wrong to attack her younger self. "You're right, humans aren't the best, but what does this do?"

"Get out of the way." Demona's eyes started to glow. "I must be showed the error of my ways before it's too late to change this."

"You should listen to him." Goliath said grabbing Demona's left arm near the top. With a roar, one of Demona's wings came down to slash Goliath's face. Goliath, instead of releasing her, drew back a fist and punched Demona, the force of the blow sent her backwards to slam head first into the stone wall, where she crumpled to the stone lifelessly. The Phoenix Gate that was in her hand, rolled out to come to rest at Goliath's feet, where it was picked up.

'Glad I didn't have to do that.' He sighed and went to check and make sure she was alright. She was out cold and had a nice lump on the top of her head, but she would survive.

"Are you injured?" Goliath asked the young Demona, his voice full of concern, and Ranma watched the pair, feeling like he would be interrupting something if he spoke.

"You－." Demona looked at Goliath briefly. "The others－ all gone." Tears started to fall from the blue gargoyles eyes, and she spun away from Goliath to hug at his statue. "What am I to do?"

"Do nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Do not worry, do not wait or look for this catastrophe. Live in the moment, attend the petty jealousies and angers that prey upon your heart. Fortify yourself with love and trust, and you need not fear this future, but most of all, fulfill the vows of love you make." Gently, Goliath took Demona's chin between his talons, forcing the shorter gargoyle to look up into his eyes. "For they will surely save you."

"I shall." She replied and rest her hand on top of Goliath's. "You have my oath."

"I had hers once as well." Goliath turned to look at the downed form of Demona at his feet. "We should go." Nodding, he gathered up Demona in his arms and moved close to Goliath who looked down at the Phoenix Gate in concern. "I do not remember the incantation."

"I do." The younger Demona before he could, and stood next to them. "Deflagrate muri tempi et intervallia." She spoke and flame surrounded them to appear in front of the group he had arrived with.

"I think we found our ticket home." David chuckled.

"If I didn't fear the damage you would do to the time stream, I would gladly leave you here." Goliath growled.

"But you won't, because you didn't, time travel is funny that way." The billionaire laughed.

"Good bye young angel, remember your promise." Goliath said in parting to the young Demona. The red head nodded once and stepped away. "Deflagrate muri tempi et intervallia." Goliath repeated the incantation with a few minor stutters, and they were surrounded by flame.

X x x x x x

The gargoyle who would be known as Demona, watched the ball of flame rise into the air briefly before in a flash it vanished. Looking down at the Phoenix Gate in her talons she wondered what she should do. Her future self for all her horrifying attitude did bring up a good point. She would not give the Gate to the Archmage, knowing that he would do terrible things with it.

"I saw the phoenix flame!" Jerking, she hid the Gate behind her back hurriedly, the Archmage trudged up the steps, the Grimorum clutched to his chest. "You lost the gate! Admit it you stupid beast!" The human advanced towards her.

"But I."

"Fulmenos venite!" He called out and a green ball of lightning struck her right shoulder, spinning her to the ground. "I will tell Prince Malcolm that you stole the Gate!" He sneered and she turned to look up at him. Her view was suddenly blocked by her leader's back.

"Why would you suspect this child of stealing anything from the Prince?" He asked advancing towards the Archmage. "And even if she did, precisely who would she be stealing it for?"

The Archmage glared at the old gargoyle before stalking off towards the stairs. At the entrance he spun around. "I will not forget this." He growled and glared at both of them, before heading down the steps. Once out of sight and his footsteps were no longer heard, the elder gargoyle turned to look at her.

"Are you alright lass?"

"Yes Mentor."

"I'll not ask what you've been up to, but I hope you have learned your lesson."

X x x x x x

Goliath flared his wings and landed in front of his mentor and his angel. Why his leader had sent him away on an errand was beyond him, but he had happily listened. While he was the second, he was the leader, and it was his orders that the clan followed.

"My love!" His mate leapt into his arms, embracing him tightly.

"We must go immediately or we'll miss Prince Malcolm's wedding." He pushed her away reluctantly from her excited greeting, and they both looked towards their leader for permission.

"Go on then."

X x x x x x

November 6th ,1995, Eyrie Building, New York City

"It seems the honeymoon has begun earlier than expected."

The world came back into view through the flames, revealing Owen and judge Roebling standing right where they had left them. Feeling the ground once more beneath his feet, Ranma looked around to get his bearings. 'No dead bodies, no fire, and no gargoyles stuck in stone.' He sighed in relief, happy to be away from that place of death.

Demona moaned and shifted, opening her eyes, she suddenly pushed him away, and he let her get to her feet. "I can walk on my own."

"Angel?" Goliath asked tentatively.

"You sentimental old fool." Demona snapped. "You may have prevented me from altering the past, but you failed as well. I have clear memory of your little inspiration about keeping my vows of love, I never forgot it. And it changed nothing!" Demona waved her arms outward and got right into Goliath's face. "Obviously, history is immutable."

Turning away sadly Goliath said. "More's the pity." With a leap, Goliath landed on top of the battlement and left.

"We're done here." Demona commanded and followed Goliath's path up to the battlements where she waited. He however remained on the ground with his eyes downcast. "What are you waiting for?" She barked and he followed after, wanting to get as far from this place as possible.

"Why didn't you say you knew me?" He asked over the roar of wind.

"What does it matter?" She snarled harshly, swinging close to grab on to his sleeve. "You idiot! Don't you realize what just happened? My clan is dust! My one chance to help them, ruined by Goliath! And you're worried that I don't remember every detail of you for the five minutes that I was around you one thousand years ago?" With a push she swerved away.

He didn't recover immediately, taken back by the venom in her voice, but eventually he returned to her side, realizing the extent of what had happened. Regardless of their involvement to change the younger Demona's path, the castle had still been sacked. There involvement had likely even been part of the events that caused the very thing they had tried to stop. Time, it seemed, was unchangeable. "Sorry."

Demona turned to glare at him with red glowing eyes. "Call yourself a human again and you'll face my wrath." She pointed a talon towards him.

"You don't have to worry about that, I don't think I want to call myself anything."

X x x x x x

Goliath came to a stop in front of Elisa, Hudson, and Brooklyn. All three having gathered outside the clock face to await his return.

"You promised you wouldn't go!" Elisa took a step forward, but Hudson's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

He didn't respond, walking by without a single word, he entered the tower. Words couldn't describe the despair he felt now, knowing his angel of the night was lost forever, having willingly betrayed her vows long ago. The enormity of his failure to protect her from herself was beyond crushing.

X x x x x x

OMAKE TIME!

A Very Laboratory Rat Omake

"Gee Demona, what do you want to do tonight?"

"The same thing we do every night Ranma, try to take OVER THE WORLD!"

**Author Notes:**

Spell list

Phoenix Gate spell

"_Deflagrate muri tempi et intervallia!_" - Burn down the walls of time and space!

Archmage's attack

"_Fulmenos venite_!" - Come lightning!

(1) – Sort of like those 3d pictures.

(2) – Anything you can do, I can do better, I can do anything better than you. She basically wrapped it the same way but in her mind, her doing it will have better results.

(3) – October 1st, 994 specifically.

(4) - She's saying don't share the Gate with Goliath, which means not to pledge her love to him.

Timeline

Oct 1st – David Xanatos proposes to Fox and gives her the Eye of Odin as an engagement gift.

Oct 25th – Demona helps start Ranma learning to read English to give him something to do besides bother her. Should he remain long with her, it will also let her send him on errands without worrying about him needing a translator.

Oct 28th – Demona gives Ranma some rudimentary training in how to sense magic items in preparation to her visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Arts Halloween exhibits. Also part of her plan to make him into a good servant and endear him to her.

Oct 29th – Tony Dracon and his men are taken into custody and stopped from acquiring the jewels hidden by Mace Malone, with the work of Elisa Maza and Broadway.

Oct 30th – Ranma and Demona visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Demona is searching for any magical items that may have been brought in to display for Halloween but find none. Later that night, Elisa is attacked by the werefox version of Fox as it rampages through a general store.

Oct 31st – Ranma assists Xanatos and Goliath in taking the Eye of Odin from Fox, saving her life. He also learns that injuries sustained in the night to an unknown extent are healed completely in the morning, even though it makes him feel drained for the following day.

Nov 1st – Xanatos receives a letter from himself explaining how to turn his wedding on November 6th into a time travel trip back to 975. As well as how he came about obtaining the medieval coin that was the start of his vast wealth. During the night, Thailog is released from his maturation chamber and takes up residence at the Eyrie building, though he will remain hidden until Nov 28th.

Nov 5th – Xanatos sends word through Elisa that he wants to meet Goliath atop the Golden Cup Bakery building.

Nov 6th – Fox arrives at the Eyrie building with Xanatos' father, Petros. Goliath attends the wedding with his half of the Phoenix Gate, and is tricked into giving it to Demona who uses it to send the new Xanatos family, herself, Goliath, and Ranma back to the year 975. Once their roles in the time stream are completed, they return seconds after they left.


	4. Differences

"Speech"

'Thought'

(Language the current character does not know or is not fluent in)

X x x x x x

November 9th

"Thank you for attending this lecture with our special presenter, Mr. Macduff. He's taken an hour out of his busy schedule to come here today. So without further ado－ Mr. Macduff."

Ranma watched as a fit older man with gray hair and beard, stepped up on stage. Stories from medieval Europe had become something of a fascination for him the past couple days. Actually traveling back and being there first hand, had sparked his interest like a new martial arts technique. Demona had something planned for later tonight, but he would worry about that later.

The people he had met, had spent time around, and knew of gargoyles. When he had first looked up the subject, he had started off looking for just that, since he knew absolutely nothing of European history. What he had found was not encouraging. There were a lot of books on the permanently stone type adorning buildings, a smaller number of fictional horror stories, and some small references to them as mythological monsters.

So here he sat, thumbing through a book on castles, and only vaguely paying attention to the proceedings. The book store was having this man Macduff in to promote his book, and being in the large room where it was being held, he couldn't help but listen in.

"Thank you." Macduff said to the woman who had introduced him, speaking with a Scottish accent. "Good afternoon, I am Lennox Macduff, and if you're here that means you're interested in Medieval history. My latest book, titled Gargoyles in Celtic Legend, is my subject today. Now before I get in on my lecture, do any of you have any questions?" In response a man in a front seat raised his hand. "Yes?"

"What do you have to say about all the rumors about gargoyles infesting the city? I read in your last book that you claim there once was some species that live along side humans."

"Aye I did say that, but it's no claim, gargoyles are as real as any other of God's creatures. In fact that is the very subject my new book is about." There were a few amused scoffs and even some disparaging comments to Macduff's answer. Ranma wasn't concerned with that though, sitting up a little straighter, he put his book down. "There's an old sayin, all things are true."

"So you're sayin large bat creatures are living in the city?" The original man asked snidely.

"O'course not, gargoyles aren't bats." Macduff smiled roguishly and laughed to himself.

"Are they intelligent though?" Someone else asked.

"Of course not." Another person butted in before Macduff could reply. "Even if these－ gargoyle creatures exist, the idea that they'd be intelligent is just preposterous." Ranma bristled slightly and glared at the back of the man's balding head.

"Preposterous?" Macduff asked. "My good sir, I don't believe you know the meaning of the word. Since when has man written the book on what can and cannot be? I suppose this leads me into my first story, which incidentally is one of the oldest stories I know. Now I'm sure you've all heard about the story Macbeth by Shakespeare, well this is the true story, or as much as anything can be true."

"This begins back shortly after mankind entered into the eleventh century, at a castle called Moray. Our hero Macbeth was born under his father the High Steward of Moray, a just and honorable man named Findlaech. As the young Macbeth grew, so did their popularity, attracting very unwanted attention."

"Their cousin Duncan, who was the heir to the Scottish throne, feared Findlaech and Macbeth's popularity, and saw fit to have Findlaech removed from his stewardship. He hired an assassin known only as the Hunter to accomplish the task. This Hunter was at the time, known throughout the land as a peerless warrior."

"One night, this Hunter came upon Findlaech in the early evening, and the two fought. Findlaech who had been ambushed, fought valiantly with the tools he had at hand. Macbeth came upon the two and joined to save his dear father. It was all for not, and the good Steward was thrown over a terrace to fall to his death. Macbeth, distraught and defenseless, was at the Hunter's mercy."

"When he was saved by the unlikeliness of saviors, an unnamed gargoyle, who had been the Hunter's prey for long before Macbeth had been alive. You see, this gargoyle had slashed the Hunter's face years before, leaving four long scars."

"Well there ya go, just an animal." The bald man interrupted.

"If you would allow me to continue?" Macduff asked the man, who being uncomfortable over being called out, nodded.

"She may have slashed the boys face, but she spared his life. It was not in her nature to be wicked, and the act of scarring his face was not done without some provocation. Back in the present, two warriors faced off, the gargoyles great strength and speed allowing her to make the Hunter the prey, the only thing that stopped her from finishing off the man who had hunted gargoyles and humans alike, was that young Macbeth was thrown over the edge in the battle. In an act of mercy, she forgot about the Hunter long enough, to save him."

"This act allowed the Hunter time to flee back to Duncan, who in gratitude gave the Hunter, who's real name was Gillecomgain, the Stewardship of Moray. Twelve years passed, and as many a story goes, a woman was the object being quarreled over. Macbeth had always loved Gruoch, and he was nearly driven to betray Duncan when he learned that it was he that commanded Gillecomgain and Gruoch to be wed. In the end he gave her up to Gillecomgain, choosing to remain loyal to Duncan."

"Duncan however did not see that the matter as over, and ordered Gillecomgain to kill Macbeth. The Hunter realized that for Macbeth to be removed, would raise too many questions, and refused. Prince Duncan, incensed by the refusal, turned against his assassin, and told Macbeth the Hunter's identity, hoping that one would slay the other."

"Macbeth that night attacked Gillecomgain in Castle Moray. Just when victory was in sight, Gillecomgain used Gruoch, as a shield. Helpless, defeat now seeming certain, when again the nameless gargoyle came to his rescue. This time, there would be no escape for the Hunter, who was thrown to his doom. In his end, Gillecomgain met the same fate as his victim, Findlaech twelve years before. Once again, the nameless gargoyle left, wanting no thanks and desiring no reward."

"With Gillecomgain dead, and the truth of how Findlaech met his end twelve years before revealed in part. Macbeth was bestowed the Stewardship of Moray that had been denied to him by his cousin and the Hunter. Free of Gillecomgain, Gruoch and Macbeth were married within the year, their son, Luach, born shortly there after."

"Duncan however was not done with his scheming, even after becoming the King of Scotland, he viewed Macbeth as a threat. Knowing that should he learn of who ordered Gillecomgain to kill Findlaech ever came to light, it may give Macbeth enough pull to overthrow him. Even though he was suspicious of his cousin, Duncan had no plans to act upon them until one day while visiting Macbeth, and walking through a moor, they came upon a group of sleeping gargoyles."

"Gargoyles are nocturnal creatures, but they do not choose to live at night, no, they are forced to by a quirk of their own bodies. Be it sorcery or some strange twist of nature, gargoyles become stone during the day."

"Wait wait wait, stone during the day?" Someone asked in the middle of the group.

"Aye, stone, and I do not know the reason or the why, only that they do. It is the reason that gargoyle clans at one time would form pacts with humans, offering protection at night, should they be protected during the day. I see that some of you are－ disbelieving of this little tidbit. But is it no more strange than a bear hibernating for the winter? Small insects going dormant for decades at a time, then when conditions are right they simply pop up, appearing like magic."

"The point is, many creatures on this planet do strange, unknown things, that we as humans have no way of describing at first. It is only much later through careful study and open minds that the answers are found. Gargoyles as rule, have been feared, and hunted by humans. Viewed as creatures of the night, evil demons, and animals without the right to live. In that way it is understandable that gargoyles hide themselves while helpless during the day. Which strangely enough inspired the stone gargoyles adorning buildings today. While knowledge of living gargoyles has been forgotten, their protective nature has remained entrenched in the human psyche."

"For Macbeth, Duncan, and their two young boys to wander across them, and for one of them to be the gargoyle who had saved Macbeth's life twice. Was more than mere coincidence to Duncan, who when he returned to his home, declared war upon Macbeth."

"Macbeth, realizing his inability to protect his people, sought out and allied himself with the nameless gargoyles clan. With their combined strength, they defeated and slew Duncan. As an unpopular King, Duncan's supporters saw opportunity, backing Macbeth to become the new King of Scotland. Which he accepted upon the stone of destiny, making the nameless gargoyle his primary advisor, as a show of good faith to seal the pact between the human clans of Scotland and the gargoyles."

"So impressed was Macbeth at the nameless gargoyles ability to change the course of battles single handedly, to be a force so striking that knights would flee at her sight, that he named her Demona."

"Did you say Demona?" Ranma asked immediately, causing several heads to turn back to him.

"Aye lad, Demona, but this is not to be confused with say how someone names their pet dog. Macbeth suggested the name in passing, and she accepted it. Gargoyles, for all their similar levels of intelligence to humans, are not. Names are a foreign concept, to them the world and everything in it, should be appreciated for what it is."

"Mr. Macduff, you seem to have a very romanticized view of these creatures." A woman to the side asked.

"I suppose it might seem that way, however I am skimming through a large amount of information, most of which is covered in far more depth in my book. If I come across as romanticized, I apologize, one of the main things that I have always tried to do in my studies is to view events and interactions without expectations."

"So often today, people become obsessed with what happened, rather than the why it happened. When I said that Macbeth made Demona his primary advisor, you as the listener, should be wondering why did he do such a thing? What did he have to gain by alienating a portion of his kingdom who would not accept her in that role? Why? Why? Why? Why did these people do what they did? It's so much more important than saying, King Duncon was killed the fourteenth of August in ten forty A.D. Because without something to relate to, that's just a name, a date, and those do not have the ability to effect us."

"Actually." Macduff looked behind him to where a clock was mounted on the wall. "It appears that I need to be finishing up. I do have some time to stay and sign some copies. The life of a scholar is fraught with public appearances and endless self promotion."

Ranma waited semi patiently for the people seeking an autograph to clear, when Macduff attempted to leave, that's when he stopped him. "So where did you hear about all this stuff?" He asked, falling into step with the man.

"Many places, some personal digging, the usual." The gray haired man answered. "You're the lad who spoke up when I mentioned Demona right?"

"Yea."

"Any specific reason?" Macduff stopped to speak directly to him.

"It's just a weird name that's all. I bet you don't meet many gargoyles named Demona."

"You don't meet many gargoyles with names as it is. I cover it in my detail in my book if that's what you wanted to ask."

"Well what I really wanted to ask was, what was Demona like?"

"That's covered in the book too. Why so much interest?"

"Uh." Chewing on his lip he debated with himself, this guy seemed alright, and he wasn't really doing anything wrong. "I just ask cause I know." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "A gargoyle named Demona."

"Right." Macduff laughed clearly not believing him. "And I'm the King of Scotland. If you really knew her, you could tell me what color her skin is."

"Sort of a light blue." He answered and Macduff instantly became serious.

"I didn't mention that in my lecture, have you already read my book."

"Nope, hadn't even heard of it." Shrugging, the seriousness drained out of Macduff, replaced by his earlier good natured attitude.

"What's your name lad?" The elder man slapped him on the back.

"Ranma."

"Well Ranma, do you have a phone number where I could call you at? I'm always interested in learning from a first hand source."

Opening his mouth to answer, he realized that he hadn't gotten Demona's phone number before. "I don't have one at the moment."

"Then you'll just have to call me, here's my personal cell number." Macduff dug into his pocket and handed him a business card. "I would be very appreciative if I could meet Demona in the flesh."

"I'll have to ask her."

"Of course－ maybe we could setup a place to meet for tomorrow night. Give her some time to think it over."

"Sounds pretty good, but I want to hear more about Macbeth."

"I can do that, just a moment." Macduff went over and talked to the clerk minding the cash register, and returned with a copy of his book in hand. "Here you go, on the house."

"Wow thanks." He was just going to steal a copy.

"My pleasure, it's rare to find young people interested in history now a days. I must reluctantly head off to another appointment. You'll be sure to ask her to meet with me won't you?"

"Yea."

"Good lad, have a good day now."

X x x x x x

Closing the car door behind him, and dropping the pleasant facade of Macduff, Macbeth mac Findlaech reached into his pocket. Pulling out a small GPS that was keyed to locater device he had just placed on the young boy. A small dot indicated the boys position still inside the store on the overhead map of the city. Position data would be taken every ten minutes, allowing him to map out Demona's location if the boy was being truthful. Satisfied that he would be able to find him again, he set the GPS down on the passenger seat and started the vehicle.

X x x x x x

"Hey."

Demona rolled her eyes and remained where she was making herself food. "What?"

"Did you know a Macbeth?" The boy asked innocently.

"Where did you hear that name?" She demanded, slamming the knife she was using down to embed into the cutting board.

"The guy who wrote this." Ranma held up a large dark black hard cover book, with a Celtic knot on the front forming a pair of wings.

Calming down, she had thought he had actually brought the former Scottish King to her home. Thankfully Ranma had shown himself capable of keeping the location from becoming public knowledge. "Explain." She took the book from him and read the front cover. "Gargoyles in Celtic Legend, by Lennox Macduff. What did this Macduff look like?" She asked, reading the table of contents.

"Well he was an old guy, with white hair and beard, but still fit, like he worked out a lot."

"He's found me again." She hissed. "And he's writing books about me." She snarled, noticing her name, the one given to her by Macbeth, was a chapter title. "I wonder what lies he's written." Flipping through some pages, she purposely avoided the one titled 'Betrayal' already knowing what it would contain.

"You know him?" Ranma asked, drawing her attention, the boy having stolen some of the food she was preparing for herself.

"Macbeth is an old enemy." She answered. "He's personally responsible for the deaths of my clan."

"I thought that was Vikings."

"Not that clan, the one I created afterwards. Him and his cousin destroyed them." Handing the book back to him, another thought entered her head. "How did you get this?"

"I was going to read it there or steal it but he gave me a copy."

"What do you mean he gave you it?"

"He mentioned you during this talk, and I sort of said I might have known you." Ranma explained, Demona on the other hand grew progressively more angry with each word.

"Why would you do that?"

"I thought he was nice." He answered with a shrug. "And he said he wanted to meet you."

"I've spent hundreds of years avoiding him, I'll not break that record now." Putting a delicate human finger to her chin she realized that this might work to her advantage. If she could get Macbeth to view the spell she would be casting tonight, then she could make sure he was never a threat to her again. Lock him away in some dungeon, someplace no one would ever find him. No, Macbeth wasn't stupid, he would never watch the broadcast or her personally casting the spell.

As Ranma ducked into her fridge to grab something, she noticed a small, almost unnoticeable black dot on the back of Ranma's shirt."What's that?" She asked, picking it off of his clothing, and examining it. "Some sort of tracking device?" Her eyes widened and she immediately started dragging Ranma out of the mansion. "Have you been anywhere else besides here since you met Macbeth?"

"I hung out at a couple places why?"

"For how long at each? Five? Ten minutes?"

"Yea about, why?"

"You need to go to more places, stay about the same, and then drop this off at someplace that has gargoyles on the roof."

"What? Why?" Ranma protested.

"He's using you to track me down you idiot! That bug is as good as you showing him right to my front door." Pushing him out said door, she handed him the small tracking device. "And go as far away from here as you can when you do it."

"Alright alright." Ranma hopped over the fence and was out of sight without further fuss.

"Damn, how did he find me? And that stupid－." Slamming the door behind her, she resolved to just be extra secretive about looking for tails when going and returning from her home.

She had nearly worn a path in her carpet by the time Ranma returned. The red haired teen looked decidedly worse for wear. "What happened to you?" She asked, amused by his haggard appearance.

"I went all the way to the North side of Central Park. Some idiots in a gang decided to pick a fight, so I had to beat em up."

"Oh, well that's good." Showing humans there place in the world was always a good thing. "If Macbeth shows up at all, it'll be tonight, so we'll need to leave as soon as the sun sets."

"What are you doing tonight anyways?"

"I'm going to make humans understand what it means to be helpless, by turning them to stone at night."

Ranma stared at her for a full minuted before asking one thing. "Why?"

"Humans cannot understand by reason alone, they must be made to, and the best way I can think, is that they'll become the opposite of gargoyles. Fitting don't you think? Similar to yourself."

"I don't think that's a very good idea."

"Did you like turning to stone when you had never before?"

"Well no."

"So I'll cast the spell by using equipment from Xanatos to override the broadcast stations from the city. More and more stations around the world will display the incantation before tomorrow night when the spell will take effect."

"This sounds like a bad idea."

"It's only going to be temporary." She lied. "All it should take is a few nights, and then I'll go on tv and explain our demands."

"Demands?"

"Of course, they claim to have laws, I will make it so we are just as protected by it. As it stands now, gargoyles barely have the standing of an insect. Do you understand what that means? Someone could kill you in the night and they would face no consequences, and with their current attitude, many would cheer."

"You're very－ pessimistic." He dead panned.

"And you are young, but perhaps that is a good thing." Demona glanced at the human teen, he was certainly atypical for a human these days. She even found him tolerable when he wasn't in a playful mood. "There is of course, another incentive."

"What's that? I can kind of understand the whole stone thing if it's just for a couple nights."

"I know where Puck is."

"Puck? Where?" He demanded, slipping in front of her.

"Patience." She put a hand on his shoulder. "He'll be affected by the spell too, and then you can do whatever you want to him. Anything－ that you want."

Ranma's eyes bore into her own, the seriousness contained within, nearly made her smile. "Alright I'll wait."

"You're learning, revenge is a dish best served cold, but what exactly do you want it for?"

"Huh? For tricking me of course, I can't just let him get away with that."

"That's what I thought." Smiling, she patted his shoulder before stepping around him. "You should go get cleaned up, you stink." Her smiled grew now that he couldn't see her face. His reason for wanting to get revenge on Puck wasn't that the trickster had made him half gargoyle. No, that didn't even figure in Ranma's mind.

"Do I?" He asked from behind her.

X x x x x x

Weaving through building with Ranma in tow, Demona took time away from practicing the complicated spell she would be weaving in mere minutes, to reminisce over the event that had given her the idea. It was back in Scotland at Castle Wyvern, 994, and the night after the Vikings had first been repelled. Her plan with the Captain of the Guard was about to come to fruition.

"Those Vikings may return at daybreak Goliath. I say take all your gargoyles and make sure they're gone." Robert, the elderly human explained. While she may not have trusted humans, he was the one with which she put some faith in.

"I agree." She agreed. "Let's go out in force and put an end to these pigs once and for all."

"It's too dangerous, I don't want to leave the castle unprotected."

"Their leader swore he'd be back, it's best to hurry them far away now, and not take that chance." Robert continued.

Goliath let out a deep breath and turned away from them. "Very well, but I shall do it. I can scare those cowards away without any help."

"That's too dangerous for you." She pleaded, coming up next to him. "Allow me to come along at least."

"You and the others will stay with the castle." Goliath answered and gripped her shoulders. "You are my best warrior, I leave you in command."

"No! I cannot let you." She tried to explain without telling him.

"I won't go alone." He conceded. "Remember－ you and I are one, now and forever."

Gazing into and pleaded with him through her eyes, she watched him turn, and took a single step forward after him. Why couldn't Goliath understand that she knew what was best? Her future self, no matter how terrible, had given her a gift of knowledge. If they didn't all leave, the humans would leave them to their fates at the hands of the Vikings. All her brothers, sisters, parents, and children would be killed.

Seeing Robert step up next to her she stormed off away from where Goliath was heading. "This ruins everything! The plan was to have all the gargoyles away during the attack, so we could return to claim an empty castle." Reaching the other side of the castle she turned back to Robert.

"The plan can still work." The Captain of the Guard said. "I'll signal Hakon, tell him to attack during the day, the humans will still be taken."

Roughly grabbing the front of his clothes she brandished her talons in his face. "Fool! Have you forgotten? Gargoyles are stone by day, we'll be helpless!" Pushing him away, she caped her wings and crossed her arms.

"Not while I'm about, I swear to keep your clan safe."

Looking away, she gazed out at the courtyard filled with human refugees. She would not let her clan die for them, so she nodded, barely watching the Captain of the Guard head off to signal the Viking leader. All night her choice weighed heavily on her. She may have trusted Robert enough to plan this coup d'etat with him, but she did not trust one human to keep her entire clan safe.

It was too late now to call them off. The Captain had long since returned from their encampment. Just before dawn, she could stand it no longer and went to go tell as many of her clan that they needed to come with her to the cliff side to be safe. But when she reached a pair, she froze, seeing vikings lining the tree line. How could she tell them? They wouldn't abandon their place at the castle unless she told them that the humans inside were being setup to fall. The explanation would require that she admit her guilt in betraying their pact.

"Nevermind, it's nothing." She waved off her intrusion, and ran off to the back of the castle. With the sun soon to rise, she glided down to a place that the water would not reach. Watching the sun rise, she felt herself start to turn to stone, and she shed a single tear, hoping that everything would turn out right.

During the day, she dreamed, dreamed of what life would be like without having to bow and scrape to the humans. How they wouldn't have to hide in the dark all the time. How they would be the rulers of the castle. No longer the despised protectors to an inferior race. No longer treated with contempt.

Waking, she looked up the sheer cliff face to where large plumes of smoke rose into the sky. "It worked!" She cried out happily and started the climb up to the castle. "Finally my clan is free of human rule."

Flipping over the side of a battlement, she slowed her pace, sensing how still the castle was. "Where are they?" Heading up some steps she went to find out.

"Brothers? Sisters?" Why wasn't anyone else here? Had they left already to find the Vikings? Nearly stepping on a piece of stone, she reached down hesitantly and picked it up. Flipping it over, revealed that it was the partial face of a gargoyle, the brother she had nearly warned last night. Gasping, she dropped the stone.

"No." Looking around, she realized that the Captain of the Guard had not kept them safe. "NO!" She screamed, falling to her knees, her cry of anguish turning into sobs.

"Hey!" Ranma's voice broke her reverie and she was suddenly pulled to the side before she could impact the side of a building. "You spaced out there."

Fully coming back to the present, she noticed Ranma's concerned face. "I'm fine－ just remembering."

"Remembering what?"

"That you still haven't learn how not to be annoying." She snapped with more force than she wanted.

"In that case I'll just let you fly face first into a building, that'll teach you." Ranma huffed.

"We're here." She ignored his mock indignation, instead focusing on the task at hand. Landing next to the Pack Media Studios building, with it's brick sides and half circle roof, she didn't wait for Ranma before entering.

"Everything is ready." Owen was telling Xanatos when she came in through the door. The pair standing on either side of a large console.

The room filled with lights and television cameras, formerly used to record programs for The Pack's television show. She had seen the group of five humans in action against Goliath and Lexington, they were humans to be cautious of.

"It had better be." She stepped into the bright lights from the shadow of the doorway.

"Relax, this is state of the art equipment, we can override every broadcast station in Manhattan." Xanatos said from his place leaning on the control console.

"Cable as well." Owen added.

"I trust you've kept your end of the bargain?" Xanatos asked.

Moving close to the human, she unfurled the rolled parchment to hold in front of her. "This is how I've lived all these years, a spell stolen from the Grimorum Arcanorum." Turning the ancient paper towards her, she moved on to the stage. "With it we can steal one minute of life from everyone who sees and hears the spell."

Getting into position, she caped her wings, and closed her eyes when Owen turned on a light to illuminate her. "Add it up and it equals centuries of time, even when shared among us. We'll broadcast throughout the night and day, ending at sundown tomorrow. You should return then Xanatos."

X x x x x x

Ranma watched from the side with mild curiosity, as Xanatos whispered something to Owen and then went to leave through the door next to him. The pony tailed man stopped and gave him a big smile.

"Hello again Ranma, I never got the chance to ask if you had a good time at the wedding?"

"Not really." He answered.

"That's too bad, well how about I make it up to you somehow. How does dinner tomorrow night with Fox and I after our business here is concluded? Demona is of course more than welcome to come as well."

"Um sure, that sounds good."

"Wonderful, well until then." Xanatos clapped him on the back once before exited through the door. When it slammed shut, Ranma turned back just in time to see Demona start with the spell, with Owen using a television camera to film it. Averting his eyes so that he didn't get affected by the spell, he could only listen.

"Omnes conspecti, omnes auditi." A strange visible wind started to pick up throughout the room. Raising her left hand into the air, around her fingers a bright white ball of light formed. "In nocte usque ad saxum commutate."

"Stop! This is not the spell you." Owen was able to speak out before he was shot backwards from an invisible force to slam into the control console.

"Dum caelum ardeat!" Demona finished and pointed her glowing hand towards Owen. Lightning bolts shot from each finger, wrapping around Owen and shoving him into a sitting position on a nearby wooden chair. When the lightning died off, the blond man remained staring forward unblinking.

"Why did you do that?" He asked worriedly, that hadn't been part of the plan. Demona ignored him, instead she pulled some cables from a wall, and started to tie Owen to the chair, making a big show to not touch the man directly.

"I told you I knew where Puck was hiding, here he is." She explained, tying the rope tightly.

"Puck? This isn't Puck." He wondered what was up with Demona to think Owen was Puck.

"Here I thought you didn't judge by appearance, look at him like you were looking for a magical artifact."

It took him a moment to throw the mental switch. "Whatever that will do." He trailed off, noticing immediately that Owen did appear to be magical, far more than the page from the Grimorum. In fact, Owen had so much magic in and around him, that he made everything around him dull in comparison. "You!" He growled and was about to grab the man, when Demona stopped him.

"Don't touch him, you'll break the spell holding him in place." She explained, moving the large camera over to show the video of the spell looping in the large viewfinder at the back. "Let's make sure he won't be able to bother us at night from now on."

He didn't really hear what Demona had to say, instead he remained in place, growling at Owen, his eyes glowing a bright white. Owen was Puck, Puck was Owen, and they had both screwed up his life completely. He couldn't even think he was so angry. Slowly he pulled back a fist, he would just hit Puck once, then he would feel better. Well no that wasn't right, he needed to hit him once for the first offense, then again for tricking him, and then he would have to do it again for tricking everyone as Owen. 'Ya know what, I think I'll just keep hitting him until I feel better'

"Don't." Demona commanded, grabbing his wrist, before he could follow through.

"Why not?" He slowly turned towards her.

"I told you if you touched him, the spell would be broken, and then he could stop the broadcast."

"I don't want to touch him, I just want to hit him till I feel better." He whined.

"Another time." She pushed a large red button on the control console. "There, let's leave." She grabbed him by the upper arm, pulling him away from Owen.

"But." He pleaded, resisting her pull. "Can't I just hit him a few times? Ya know, till I feel better?"

X x x x x x

Pulling on her dark red leather jacket, Elisa Maza reached for her television remote to turn off the movie that was playing. "Okay Cagney, I'm out of here." In response her little gray cat made a soft meowing noise. On the television, Casablanca suddenly switched to an all too familiar blue gargoyle.

"Demona?" She asked, flipping the channel and finding no escape from the evil gargoyle speaking in Latin. "It's on every channel." Flipping off the television she had to get to the clock tower and tell Goliath what was going on as soon as he woke up. No doubt some kind of ill intentioned spell from the red haired menace.

X x x x x x

Scotland 1020

Handing a loaf of bread to her second in command, the gargoyle that would become Demona, watched the dark gray gargoyle with two swept back horns coming out from behind his ears, sit down to eat. He wasn't what she would call an ideal replacement for the day when she would die, but out of the rest of her clan, he was the only one capable of the job at the moment.

"I'm tired of starving and acting like a common thief, I don't see why we can't just make peace with the humans?" Her second asked with his heavily accented Scottish, indicating just how much the humans had corrupted him.

She didn't make a noise, but was over to him in a flash, grabbing the metal plate strapped to his chest and throwing him over her shoulder to land heavily in the center of their cave. "Do you think the humans want peace?" She asked him. "We are all that are left of our kind in this world! And the Hunter begrudges each of us our lives." Her eyes glowed scarlet. "I will not let him win!"

"We bring word of the Hunter."

Startled, she turned quickly towards the entrance to the cave. Standing in a row were three dark green gargoyles, each with a different color to their long hair. One black, one blonde, and one pure white. All three were elderly, hunched over in almost identical poses. The most disturbing thing besides their sudden appearance, was that they were all identical, as if they had hatched from the same egg.

"I do not know you." She said slowly, feeling uneasy with their presence. "But you are welcome among us. Give me your news."

"He stalks a new human target at Castle Moray." The black haired one spoke.

"If you and clan Moray ally against a common enemy, you can defeat the Hunter." The white haired one spoke.

"I need no human allies!" She spat. "Let the Hunter strike at his target, for as he does, he becomes the prey." A malicious smile spread across her face. "My prey."

Close to an hour later, she circled Castle Moray, until she heard the metallic clang of a sword coming from a balcony. Swinging around she saw the object of her hate. Roaring, she folded her wings close in next to her body, and slammed into the human. The Hunter rolled once before he was back up to his feet. "Now I have you."

"Now I'll finally have my revenge." He answered and charged forward with his sword held over his head. Using her superior speed, she swept out his legs, sending him flying over her head to crash face first into the stone balcony.

She would savor this, she would make him suffer, and in the end she would kill him slowly, pulling him apart piece by piece. Unfortunately a young human male tried to attack the Hunter, who threw the boy at her. Swatting him from the air, she jumped and landed in front of the Hunter, who had turned to flee. "Know what it feels like to be hunted human!" She stalked slowly forward towards the unarmed human. "And know that it is the last thing－ you'll ever feel."

"Macbeth!" A young female human cried out, rushing past her towards the railing. Her eyes flickered over to where both of the children were going to fall over to their deaths. Glancing between them and the Hunter, her objective so close, the human who had hunted her and her kind for so long as right there, an arms reach away.

Seeing that the female was about to be pulled over, she turned away from the Hunter, rushing over to the young humans side to stop her fall and grab the males wrist. With a mighty heave, she pulled them both back over the ledge. Taking a single deep breath, she turned to find the Hunter gone, having fled while her attention had been elsewhere. Growling, she shook with rage.

"Thank you." The young female spoke and she turned to snarl at the girl. Seeing their young faces, she gave off a disgusted sigh, and took off to return to her clan.

X x x x x x

"You're sure this will work?" Ranma asked Demona, both of them were standing aside from the other people in St. Gabriel's park. Glancing down at Demona's legs, he wondered why she had brought the large hard plastic suitcase, and what was in it.

"Of course it will. I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble and broken my alliance with Xanatos for nothing." She explained.

"Why did you lie to him anyways? You got the money, you could have just done it yourself." That whole thing was grating on his sensibility. Xanatos was a nice guy, even though he worked with Puck.

"Xanatos is motivated only by money and how he can manipulate others. He would never have allowed me to use his studio, which is what I really needed in order to patch into the network."

"I don't know anything about that electronics stuff." He broke in before she could get into some strange details on the process.

"Knowledge is power." She answered. "I should have picked an area on the other side of the city, I wanted to watch the sun go down."

Rolling his eyes, he wondered why that was such an important detail, especially since he could feel the sun setting just as she spoke it. Before either of them could start changing, around them the world stopped, the people around them freezing in place as stone. For a moment it was perfectly quiet, only to be shattered by all the movie vehicles around them slamming into each other or buildings.

Cringing from the sight of all the unintentional destruction, as well as the change itself, his wings and tail grew easily through his modified clothing. Demona, lacking the modifications, simply tore through what she currently wore, openly roaring when she was done.

"Do you like ruining your clothes?" He asked while adjusting his belt.

"For your information, it feels simply wonderful to tear free of these trappings of humanity and letting my real self be free." Gazing around, Demona laughed to herself. "This is even better than I hoped."

"This is spooky." He said nervously, inspecting a couple who were now locked in place, holding each other on a bench. "I don't like it."

"What's not to like?" Demona sat down casually next to the pair, running a talon down the face of the woman. "It suits the humans perfectly I think. Now they truly have a reason to fear the dark."

"Can we do the counterspell now?" He asked, his eyes darting nervously to all the people around him.

"Why would I do that?" Demona rose from the bench, accidentally breaking off the forearm of the woman.

"AHH! What did you do!" He was over in a flash, trying in vain to put the piece back in place.

"Butter fingers." She replied without any concern in her voice.

Carefully trying to figure out how to put it back in place, hoping that when she returned to flesh it would be able to heal along with it. Finally he got it into a place where it sort of looked like it was right, he stepped back carefully so that it didn't shift, and a bright red light shot past him to impact the stone body, showering him in razor sharp fragments. Falling backwards to stare horrified at the rubble, another shot impacted the man, and he too exploded in shrapnel.

Looking down in horror at his dust covered arms, he hastily tried to brush it all off, and scrambled backwards away from the scene. Impacting a pair of legs, he stared at the now empty park bench, slowly bringing his eyes up to see Demona standing over him with a laser rifle in her hands.

"Why?" He asked, getting to his feet. "WHY!" He roared, grabbing her by the front of her destroyed shirt, and raising her up off the ground. "HOW COULD YOU JUST DO THAT? WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?"

Demona stared back at him without any emotion. "I did only what they would have done to me." She answered coldly.

"What?" He let her down, confused over the answer, and sadness overcoming his anger.

"I will make humans grow to fear the night. I will have blood for blood." She answered hatefully.

"You can't do that!" He yelled and turned his back on Demona to walk a short distance away. "You can't just kill people!"

"And why can't I?" Demona asked, running her hand along the material of his wing. "Why should I limit myself to their morality, when I am not one of them－ when you are not one of them."

"Who is what doesn't matter." Spinning he turned to face her. "You just killed two people! Two innocent people!" He added emphasis by pointing at the empty park bench.

"What's two humans? They breed like a plague, hundreds are born every minute." Brushing away Demona's hands as she attempted to run her hand through his hair. "Ranma, I want you to help me, I want you to trust me, trust that I know what is right."

"No! What you just did is not in anyway right! Killing is what you do when there are no other options left."

Demona took a step back from him, her eyes starting to take on a red hue. "Think carefully about what it is you want." She warned, slowly bring a hand down to grip the trigger. "If you are not with me, then you are my enemy."

Ranma stared into Demona's eyes, finding that she was completely serious, even though she looked at him with sadness. "You keep going on how bad humans are－ but you just murdered them like how your clan was killed at Castle Wyvern." His eyes started to glow white. "You're no different."

Demona raised her rifle and he was already moving to dodge out of the way of the barrel, allowing the thin red beam to pass him by. Reversing his direction, a second beam of light shot by him. Before a third could be fired, he grabbed the top of the barrel to point it away from his body, and slammed his shoulder into Demona.

She released the gun and rolled backwards once, stopping on all fours. Snarling, she charged forward with her hands prepared to strike claws first. Catching her wrists, he fell to his back and planted both feet in her stomach, kicking her up into the air. Demona flared her wings and righted herself to land in a crouch next to her suitcase, while he got to his feet, preparing for another attack.

Instead of attacking, she opened up the suitcase, and Ranma's eyes widened when she pulled out a large spiked mace. "I guess I'll have to beat the lesson into your head." Hopping backwards, he avoided a horizontal slash. Demona followed up her attack with a downward strike before he had even landed. Getting in close, he grabbed the handle of the mace before she could bring it down.

Briefly they struggled for possession of the weapon, and just when he pulled it free from her grasp, she punched him in the stomach knocking the wind out of him. Coughing repeatedly, he staggered away, dropping the mace to slam heavily into the ground. Demona ignored the mace, choosing to pick up the laser rifle, and swing the barrel back towards him.

Taking off in the opposite direction as fast as he could, seeing Demona pull the trigger, he dove behind a car that had drive up and through the fence that surrounded the park. Trying to catch his breath, he slowly peeked his head up to look through the car's interior. Demona had just finished fixing the large mace to her side, and was turning back to him.

Needing a way to get back in close, that didn't involve getting shot at repeatedly, he plunged his talons into the metal and and tore the front and back door off. Stepping out from behind the car, he reared back and hurled one of the doors like a frisbee towards Demona. The hunk of metal flipped and spun through the air, diving down to impact the ground before bouncing up to go whizzing by Demona's head.

Bounding over the hood of the car, he threw the second one, which flew in a straight line directly at Demona. She deflected the projectile by swinging her mace upwards, sending the door flying straight up into the sky. Taking a less direct route, he came in from the side, stopping at the last moment, finding the laser rifle pointed directly at his forehead.

Snapping his arms out, he twisted the rifle, wrenching Demona's arm into a painful position. Kicking out a leg, he swept her feet out from under her, and catching the handle of the mace as she flailed her arms wildly. Now with both weapons in hand, he stomped a foot down on her rib cage just under her breasts, pinning her to the ground.

Throwing away the rifle and spinning the mace like a baton, he brought it down to stop centimeters from her face. "Will you stop?" He asked.

CLANG!

"Gah!" Reflexively he dropped the mace, the car door from earlier having landed on his head, and Demona snatched the weapon from the air before spinning herself on the ground and kicking out his feet. Falling face first to the ground, he was hit once again by the door, as it completed its fall back to Earth. Brushing aside the door, he shook his head to clear the stars, and found Demona running to a nearby building on all fours.

Hurrying to catch up, he crashed through some trees, and cleared a fence to jump three stories in pursuit of Demona who had nearly scaled the five story building. Nearing the top, Demona pushed off and glided away, and he did the same a moment later. Normally he couldn't keep up with Demona in the air, her millennia of experience gave her too much of an edge, but now she was weighed down by the heavy mace and laser rifle.

Even with her disadvantage, Demona was still able to keep herself out of reach. Ranma's options were limited, he could try and close the distance, which would tire him out. Or he could wait for Demona to grow impatient and land somewhere. Either way he couldn't sit back and do nothing, since neither of them would need to stop gliding till morning. The longer this went on, the more time Demona had to hurt more people.

"Damn it!" he shouted, Demona must have sensed he was thinking about something, because she had flipped back on him, mace out in front. Spinning out of the way, floundering, he veered into the side of a building. Landing in a crouch, with his back pointing towards the ground a dozen stories below, he pushed off and rolled before resuming his flight. Seeing Demona enter a parking garage far below, he dove down, and flew in the open side. Flaring his wings to stop his forward momentum, he landed in crouch, eyes alert for the blue gargoyle.

"I'm surprised at how far you've come in such a short time." Demona's voice echoed to him. "But why do you contest me? Why do you care about them?"

"I don't." He shot back. "But it's a martial artist's duty to protect the weak."

"So then you don't care about them? How interesting, foolish－ but interesting."

"What now? We keep fighting?" He asked, slowly moving towards where he thought the voice was coming from. "I might have found it fun, if you weren't a murderer."

"Murder is such a modern term. Back when I was hatched, it was a daily part of life. Before I was your age I had killed dozens of humans who had tried to attack the castle. Did they call it murder then? No, they treated me like a pet deserving of a treat!"

"That was then, this is now." Stepping around the car he thought Demona was behind, he found nothing.

"HA! You still haven't learned how little humans have changed!" Demona explained from behind him.

Spinning, he found her crouched next to the corner of the concrete wall dividing the center of the garage, laser rifle pressed into her shoulder, the barrel pointing at him. No, not at him, right at the car next to him.

"But you'll learn." She said cruelly and fired. The laser burning a neat hole through the body of the car near the bottom of the side.

"Damn!" Diving through the open side of the garage, into the night air, the car exploded behind him sending a shower of shrapnel out through the opening. Falling to the ground, he looked up to see metal chunks coming down towards him. Bringing up his wings to act as a buffer, he ran into the street as more and more cars inside started to explode.

His jaw dropped, staring at the blaze now engulfing an entire floor of the garage. He nearly missed Demona appearing the story above, where she used it as a base to start flying away. "Oh no you don't!" Ranma yelled, grabbing a large piece of metal debris and crumpling it into a tight ball the size of his head. Rearing back his arm, he threw it like a baseball at Demona's retreating form.

The metal ball traveled like it was shot from a cannon, impacting Demona in the side of her ribs, and causing her to spiral downwards to cave in the roof of a car. When Ranma got to her location, she had rolled herself off of the automobile and lay gasping on the ground for air.

"You alright?" He asked, having likely caused more damage than he had wanted. Stopping Demona was his priority, crippling her was not.

"Catch!" Demona suddenly yelled, throwing her laser rifle at him, and dove behind a large van.

Ranma instinctively caught the laser rifle Demona had thrown at him. The high pitched and rapid beeping it was emitting made him pause and he looked down to see a bright flashing red light on the side. 'Huh? Why would she give up her weapon?' Before he could even throw it away, his world exploded in pain.

Dazed and feeling more pain than he had felt in his life, Ranma laid supine against the wall of a building. His vision blurred and a loud ringing blocking out all sounds. Trying to shift himself, a horrific wrenching sensation form his back stopped any movement immediately. Groaning, he could see an indistinct blue blur kneel next to him.

"You won't die." Demona said over the ringing. "I'm disappointed that you chose to side with the humans. You had so much potential." A hand came to touch his cheek. "Someday, you'll realize just how right I am, and I'll forgive you. Rest, it's still a long time till morning, and I still have work to do." The blur known as Demona stood up and moved away.

"No." He shifted painfully, attempting to get to his hands and knees, and with a few deep heavy and painful breaths, rose to a standing position. "I can't let you kill people."

"Your determination and drive to protect show what you really are, but what do you think you can do?"

"Anything." Taking a step forward, he wavered unsteadily before collapsing to his knees. "Anything." He repeated and dropped to lay face down on the ground, his wings laying broken and torn around him.

"Such a waste." Demona said disdainfully and he listened to her footsteps fade away. Occasionally the sound of breaking stone reaching him. Each one making him jerk as if struck himself.

X x x x x x

"We're too late." Goliath remarked sadly, coming to rest on the street, small piles of stone leading down the street. They had spotted a large explosion in a parking garage while looking for Demona, and had come to investigate.

"This is just like the massacre at Castle Wyvern." Brooklyn added and gasped. "Goliath over here." Leaping over a car, the red gargoyle next to a prone blue form. Joining his clan mate, who gently reached a hand down to check and see if he was alive. "He's sleeping, looks like laser burns."

"He and Demona must have parted ways." Scanning the boys form, he wasn't happy with what he found. Ranma's wings were shredded and the bones broken. What he could see of his front was blackened with burns. As gently as he could, he picked the young gargoyle up. "Find the others and regroup at the clock tower. We need to change our tactic and stop this at its source."

"Right." Brooklyn took off to climb the side of a building and Goliath joined him far more slowly.

The trip back to the clock tower was a long one, he kept having to slow down whenever Ranma stirred. Even though blackened with burns, Goliath noticed just how young the azure gargoyle was, barely over thirty years old if he had to guess. While Demona hadn't killed the boy when she had the opportunity, for her to take advantage of a child in this way, was beyond forgivable. "Had Demona really fallen so far?

When he arrived, he instantly placed Ranma inside on the floor, trying to arrange the boy's body so that he would hopefully heal properly during the day, even still there was a high chance that he would be crippled If the bones didn't set right. Stepping away, he paced worriedly, angry over his inability to fix the boy. He couldn't help but think that this was his fault, he should have done more to convince Ranma about Demona. "I shouldn't have taken no for an answer."

"Be careful Goliath." A young female voice said from behind him.

"What?" He demanded and found the three mysterious girls who had been at the bank the night before. "You, but how?"

"Everyone has a choice." The silver haired one spoke.

"To think you have the right to decide for others, is the start of a dangerous path." The golden haired one continued.

"One which She has walked." The black haired one finished.

"Who's she? Who are you?" He took a step forward, but in the blink of an eye, they had vanished. Shaking his head, he tried to find any trace that they had ever existed. Scratching the side of his head, he wished someone would tell him what was going on. (1)

X x x x x x

Pain, the two added appendages on his back were crying out a symphony for him. Squirming in a vain attempt to find a comfortable position, a hand was placed on his shoulder, making him hiss loudly at the contact to his burned flesh.

"Don't move." A voice told him and he slowly opened his eyes to see a grizzled old tan gargoyle. "You'll just make it hurt more."

"You－ you're alive." He said sloppily through the haze clouding his brain. Barely registering the vertical slash that went through the gargoyles left eye and how the eye itself was clouded over and yellow.

"Aye, that I am, and that you are." The bearded gargoyle pulled away. "Strange how things turn out."

"That's good." Letting his head fall back to the ground, he closed his eyes once again.

"Ranma, can you help us." Goliath's voice butted into his attempt to return to blissful slumber.

"Not at the moment, if you haven't noticed." He replied sarcastically, peaking open one eye. "Gimme five minutes."

"No not physically, do you know where Demona is broadcasting her spell from?" Goliath said after grumbling about ungrateful children. "We need to stop more people from seeing it."

"Some studio." He groaned. "Pack or something like that."

"Pack media studios." Lexington finished for him.

"That's it." He affirmed.

"That means Xanatos is involved." Goliath growled angrily. "Hudson stay here and guard Ranma and Elisa. Broadway and Lexington, take Bronx and search for Demona, we found Ranma to the South East at Kips Bay, start there. Brooklyn you're with me, we're going to pay Xanatos a visit."

"Have fun." He waved a hand in the air, not really caring about what was going on, all the pain flooding his system was playing havoc with his head.

"Here lad, some water." The old gargoyle said, putting a glass to Ranma's lips. "Try to relax and not move if you can, get some sleep too."

"The last thing I want to do his move." He swallowed some of the water painfully and closed his eyes. Morning couldn't come fast enough.

X x x x x x

Ranma's eyes fluttered open to come face to face with a wall of stone. Weakly sitting up, he found that it was actually a statue of a dog like creature laying next to him, something like huge bulldog but with a small streamlined head. Other features like fin like ears, toes with talons, and the fact that it was currently stone, made him think that it was some kind of gargoyle.

Checking his hands and the rest of his body, he was completely healed, except for the wings which had retracted into his back. Thankfully he hadn't been awake to go through the process. Stretching slowly, he got to his feet, and looked around. The night before, he had been too out of it to take note of his surrounding.

In the center of the room sat a maze of gears and pulleys, some four times his height. On all four sides were large clock faces, with flights of stairs zig zagging to get up to the base of each. On the floor he currently stood on, there was a small kitchen area with a large store of food.

"Freeze!"

Drowsily he turned to see Elisa pointing a pistol at him. "What did I do?"

"Who are you?"

"Oh, right." Smacking his lips together several times, he really didn't feel like getting shot at the moment. "I'm Ranma."

"Ranma?" Elisa asked, pointing her gun away, and looking him up and down.

"Yes you've met me as a gargoyle, but listen, I'm really hungry so can I grab some food from over there?" He waved a hand over at the kitchen area.

"If you give me an explanation on how, and why I can't remember anything from last night, I'll make something for you." She slipped her pistol inside of her jacket.

"Works for me."

Elisa he soon found out, made a decent breakfast, even though it was closer to lunch. Sitting on a beat up old reclining chair, he shoveled the food into his mouth at a decent pace, hampered only by his current weakness. The extent of his healing ability wasn't something he wanted to test. Not only was it incredibly painful if he was awake for it, but it would mean purposely injuring, and possibly crippling himself, just to see if it would heal.

"So－." Elisa started, standing in front of him with her arms crossed. "How bout the obvious? How are you human?"

"I was born a human." He answered through a mouthful of food. All the energy required to heal had to come from somewhere.

"So what, you think you're human during the day but you think you're a gargoyle at night?"

"What? No, that's stupid. Why would you think that?"

"Then－ if you're really human, how do you turn into a gargoyle?"

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, realizing that he really needed a bath. "Magic martial arts training ground, Puck, Demona, some strange mix-up, and suddenly I got wings, a tail, and if I'm in that form during the day I turned to stone."

"You mind going into a little more detail?"

"Not really."

"I insist, or I'll be taking you into the police station down stairs and we can play good cop bad cop."

"Eh? You're a cop?"

"Detective." Reaching into her jacket, Elisa pulled out a badge, and show it to him. "So if you're human, you're subject to human laws, now spill."

"You won't tell nobody?"

"I'll decide once I hear it."

"I don't know." He looked suspiciously at her. The police were supposed to help people, Elisa also knew, and seemed to be very involved with Goliath and his clan.

"Let me put it this way, it's my job to help, and if I think it will help you, I will tell someone. You have my word as a civil servant."

Trying to judge if she was lying or not, he took several more bites of food. "Me and my Pop were training at this place with a bunch of springs. You fall in one, you turn into whatever drowned there before you. Puck sent Demona there at the same time I was falling in one. I woke up that night at a gargoyle and found out I could change back and forth."

"Okay, I'm with you so far－ I think."

"After she talked me into coming with her, thinking that we kind of exchanged half of ourselves to the other. Like I took half of her as a gargoyle, and she took half of my human."

"Wait, wait, wait, you mean Demona can turn into a human?"

"Yes, can I finish?"

"Oh sorry, go ahead."

"So anyway, we make our way back here, and she summons Puck. He then tricks us－ uh－ I take it you've met him?" He paused, noticing her dark look.

"I've met him."

"Ah, well he got us to agree to this stupid deal where we changed at night instead of the way the springs did it. That's basically it, do you happen to have anymore food?" He shrugged and finished off the last pieces of food, contemplating on licking the plate clean.

"I guess that answers my question." Elisa took the plate and headed off to the kitchen area to his right, returning with more food. "My next is what was that incantation Demona's been playing on the tv." Ranma's eyes widened when she reached to turn on the television.

"NO!" He shouted, diving forward to knock her hand away. Elisa took several steps back, reaching a hand towards her pistol, before realizing that he wasn't trying to attack her. "Have you seen it?" He asked just before she took the plate of food away.

"Explain what you know or no more food."

Looking at the plate of food dangling just within reach, he could easily take it from her, but he was too tired to expend the energy to do it. "Fine." He bowed his head. "It's a spell that will turn anyone who sees and hears it into stone at night."

"And Demona simply told you this?"

"Yea."

"So you're an accomplice?"

"I thought it would help people to get along with gargoyles." He admitted, knowing that the reason was stupid. Seeing that Elisa continued to glare at him, he decided to say more. "Hey you don't know what it's like to turn to stone. I gave up a cure just to avoid it. And I just thought that maybe if humans had to do it for a while, they wouldn't treat gargoyles like monsters. But I never wanted anyone to get hurt."

"Hurt? Who was hurt?"

"Demona smashed some people last night." He fell back into the old chair, slumping into himself. "I couldn't stop her."

"You should have said something sooner." Elisa sat down on the arm of the chair and started to rub his back, to which he jerked away. "Here, eat up. I need to go do my job, and pay a certain someone a visit." Elisa handed him the plate of food before leaving by way of a set of steps off to his right.

He waited till the blue haired woman had left before finishing the food and taking some small pastries from the pantry. Wandering, he entered a back room he found three wooden pedestals, the closest one had a glass case over top the Eye of Odin. On the next was a large dirty brown leather book with a gold clasp and two winged serpents circling a sword on the front cover.

Running a hand over the cover and feeling the soft leather, he realized what it was, the Grimorum Arcanorum. Inside of this book might be the counter spell to Demona's curse. He paused before opening it, his eye catching the gold and turquoise shield of the Phoenix Gate on the final pedestal. Although his eyes lingered on the time travel device, he opened the Grimorum.

Immediately he cursed, the majority of it was in Latin, and the only portion he found readable were some notes put in by someone on the sides. The notes were descriptions of effects and times to use. Unfortunately when he looked around the area where pages were ripped out, there were no notes, as if the person creating them hadn't had time to finish the entire book. In the back, he did find something of interest.

_'I am the former Magus of Castle Wyvern, this is my account of how my gravest error was committed._

_As the traitorous Captain of the Guard and the leader of the Viking horde Hakon discussed how they would ransom off the Princess Katharine and I. The illiterate brute Hakon, started to burn pages from the Grimorum. In the time since then, I have only been able to learn of a handful of spells that have been lost forever through this act. One of which I needed scant minutes later. _

_For outside of the cave our captors had quartered us in, came a great roar, as the remaining gargoyles from the castle descended upon the Vikings. The cowards who held us captive, planned to kill the Princess, who was able to free herself for a moment, allowing her to run off through the cave. Hakon pursued, intent upon killing the woman I secretly loved, and I believing that he would succeed, took the Grimorum and went to start my misguided revenge upon the gargoyles who had cost Katherine her life._

_At first I cursed only four of them and their beast, they being the only ones within sight. The spell I used, "Dormiatis dum castellum super nubes ascendat", would keep them encased in stone until Castle Wyvern rose above the clouds. Knowing this to be an impossible task, I was satisfied that they were suitably punished, their one hope to be freed forever denied._

_My satisfaction was short lived, for when the giant leader Goliath returned, and I prepared to cast the spell one more time. Princess Katherine appeared before me, unhurt, saved by the gargoyle I had believed the cause of her death. Goliath demanded that I revert the spell, but Hakon had but a short time before burnt the page with the counterspell. _

_Watching Goliath gaze with an unfathomable sadness upon his kin, I was overcome with grief, for now I realized just how wrong I had been. To me gargoyles had always been unnatural beasts, creatures of the night, created as frightful beings long ago, and I had always treated them as monsters to be scorned and despised. But watching him, I realized my expectations were the very opposite of the truth. _

_Along with an old beggar woman and her young boy, a lad named Tom, we assisted Goliath in bringing his stone clan members back to the castle, where they were placed upon the battlements of the highest tower. Goliath once again surprised me, asking that the Princess take care of the eggs that remained in the hatchery, and that I cast the spell once again. _

_And so I did.'_

The story went on, talking about how the group traveled, and Ranma decided that the text was for the moment a waste of time. 'Time.' He thought, closing the book and picking up the Phoenix Gate. "I may not be able to change the past, but I should be able to travel through the present."

Shoving the Gate into his pocket, he turned to leave the room and spotted a gargoyle standing in the corner. Eeping, he jumped back, expecting an angry demanding of what he was doing, except it didn't happen. The gargoyle remained standing motionless, both of his eyes staring forward unblinking. Cocking his head to the side, he approached slowly, and then reached out to poke it's chest.

Instead of flesh, he was stone, and Ranma realized that since it was daytime, any normal gargoyle would be stone right now. But why was this one in this back room? Taking a closer look he noticed that pieces of the gargoyle were replaced with robotic parts. The entire right arm, right thigh, lower left leg, both wings, and even half of his face. Getting a feeling of unease from being nearby the gargoyle, he clicked off the light, and shut the door behind him.

Opening the door of a clock face, he stepped out into the sunlight, to see where he had been brought. Leaning over the railing, he looked down from the high building to see the road far below completely blocked by traffic and people trying to get in. Some of their panicked voices even able to reach up to his position. "Guess I really am on top of a police station."

Around him were the stone bodies of Goliath and his clan, sleeping in aggressive poses. "Glad I don't have to do that." Pulling out the Phoenix Gate, he clutched it in both hands, visualizing himself in front of Demona's mansion. "Deflagrate muri tempi et intervallia." He spoke and was instantly surrounded by a sphere of fire.

With a bright flash and a crackle of fire, Ranma appeared on the small driveway in front of Demona's home. Safely depositing the Phoenix Gate in his pant pocket, he looked for any sign of the owner. The metal shutters over the windows were closed, and with no sign of life outside. Before he hadn't thought anything of the two crouched over gargoyle statues on both sides of the main doors, but now they, and other additions made the house seem very imposing. As if the whole building was leaning forward to fall on top of him.

About to push open the door and enter, he paused, noticing the small envelope sitting in the mouth of the gargoyle face leering out from the front door. On the front his name was written out in Demona's perfect hand writing.

_'Take your things and go, should you remain to contest me, I will no longer show you mercy.' _

He stared at the words on the paper for close to five minutes before tearing it to pieces and shoving open the door. Listening, the entire building was deathly quiet. Floor by floor he checked for Demona, finding no sign of her. Where she could be hiding the during day was anyones guess, and the thought that she was out there enjoying the panic of everyone in the city wasn't one that he wanted to have.

Ranma took his time packing his belongings, occasionally stopping to wonder how he could be so wrong about someone? Not only that, but he defended her, and even helped her. Nothing he could say or do would change the fact that people were dead because of him. Wiping some wetness from his eyes, he grabbed the Phoenix Gate from his pocket, repeating the incantation, and vanishing in a ball of flame.

X x x x x x

Author Notes:

(1) – The three young girls are the same people as the three old gargoyles who told Demona where to find the Hunter. They are in fact a set of triplets who are part of Oberon's Children. Their importance will become obvious later.

"_Omnes conspecti, omnes auditi,  
__in nocte usque ad saxum commutate,  
dum caelum ardeat"_

All who see, all who hear,  
change to stone even at night,  
until the sky burns

"_Dormiatis dum castellum super nubes ascendat!"_

May you sleep until the castle rises above the clouds!

Timeline

Nov. 9th – During the day, Ranma meets Macbeth and learns of an edited history between him and Demona. Early in the night the Manhattan clan foil a group of terrorists. Demona and Ranma at the same time are tricking Xanatos and Owen into casting a spell through every station broadcasting out of New York City, turning everyone who sees it into stone the next night.

Nov 10th – Demona takes Ranma to St. Gabriel's Park where she begins to put her real plan into action, to exact vengeance on mankind by destroying them in a fake stone sleep at night. Ranma is unwilling to go along that part of her plans, and attempts to stop her. He is defeated and she leaves him, never having wanted to actually hurt him. Taken back to the Manhattan clans clock tower by Goliath, Ranma informs them of where the signal is being broadcasted from. Along with Xanatos, Goliath and Brooklyn stop the broadcast. Demona spends the night killing people around the city, returning to her home in the morning, before leaving to enjoy the panic that she had created.

Nov 11th – Ranma awakes after regenerating from his wounds, to find a confused Elisa demanding to know who he is. She learns of his and Demona's duel nature, although she promised not to tell anyone about him unless she thought it was needed. Having read a note from Goliath earlier, Elisa heads off to report in and then demand answers from Xanatos. Ranma finds the three magical items and Coldstone in a store room and after learning from the Grimorum how the Manhattan clan was frozen in stone, takes the Phoenix Gate and uses it to travel to Demona's mansion. Finding her gone, he gathers his things, and uses the gate to leave.


	5. Mother

"Speech"  
'Thought'  
(Language the current character does not know or is not fluent in)  
#Panda Sign#

X x x x x x

With a crackle of immaterial fire, Ranma appeared inside a darkened room. Rubbing his eyes at a sudden feeling of dizziness, he waited for them to adjust to the low light. "It's night." He realized, expecting to change. "Eh? Why am I not changing?"

A wooden sign suddenly appeared in front of his face. #Boy? Is that you?# Tracing the sign to its source, he found a giant panda looking at him hopefully. 'Panda? Oh yea Pop.'

"Hi Pop." He greeted and was then assaulted by a rapid series of growfs from his panda father. "You realize I can't understand you right."

The panda paused before holding up another sign. #How'd you find me?#

"Don't worry about that." He waved off the question. No way was he about to tell his old man that he had a priceless magical object in his possession. It would be sold to the nearest pawn shop for pocket change, before he had even finished.

"Genma? Who's talking in here?" A woman's voice asked behind him, before the lights overhead were switched on. Standing in the doorway was a woman with red hair like him, clutching a nemaki closed with one hand. "Excuse me but who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Ranma, sorry to barge in like this, I was just looking for my old man." He jerked a thumb at the panda. "Hope he's not causing you any trouble."

"Ranma?" The woman asked hopefully, taking a step towards him. "Is it really you?"

"Saotome Ranma, uh listen I'm not sure if Pop stole something from you or." He trailed off, realizing that she had started to cry. "You alright?"

"Oh Ranma you've come back!" She cried and glomped onto him.

"Huh?" He asked intelligently.

"Didn't Genma ever mention me? I'm Nodoka, you're mother." She explained.

"My－my mother?"

"Yes, you left with Genma when you were very young. I'm not surprised you don't remember me."

"Pop is this true?" He craned his neck to look at the panda.

#Yes yes, and you turned out manly right?#

Raising an eyebrow at the sign, and the strange message about manly, he felt the woman let him go. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Genma's been telling me how strong and manly you've become. Let me get you something to drink, you need to tell me all about yourself." Nodoka grabbed his hand and pulled him from the room. Released in another room, the woman ran off and he heard some pans clanking through the door.

Grabbing his father by a handful of fur, he pulled the panda's face right into his. "Alright spill it old man, who is she?"

#It's true! She's your mother!# Genma hastily wrote on a sign.

"My mother?" He released his father, who staggered back. "Why didn't you mention her before?"

#We were on a training journey# Flip #So that she couldn't coddle you#

"So why are you here?" He asked suspiciously.

"Here we go." Nodoka interrupted before Genma could answer, depositing a glass of tea in front of him on a table. "Would you like some rice crackers or something else?" She asked.

"You're my mother?" He still couldn't get past that. Pursing his lips, he studied the woman in front of him. She was a few centimeters shorter than him, same red hair, and there was a resemblance in facial structure. Actually he looked far more like her than he ever did Genma.

"Didn't Genma ever mention me?" She asked.

"Must have slipped his mind." He gave Genma a dark look, wondering how much more information the bald man had been keeping from him.

"Genma always was a bit scatterbrained." Nodoka admitted. "So what have you been doing? Your father said that you had gone off for some special training."

"You could call it that." He replied without enthusiasm. Sure he had been training a lot on how to use his other body, but that was something that came later.

What was he supposed to do now? His intention here had been to find Genma and actually ask him for advice. It wasn't like his old man was a complete moron, occasionally he had something good to impart. But to find his mother at the same time? All it did was give him the urge to beat the information out of Genma. Never had his father spoken of this woman, yet here, not even two months after letting him walk off with a stranger, Genma was back to living with her. What was he supposed to think about something like that?

While that made him angry, he was at the same time happy to find out that she was alive. Having never thought about it before, of course it made sense that he had a mother. Everyone had to have one. The question still remained on why she hadn't been there when he was growing up.

"So if you're my mom, why weren't you around when I was growing up?"

"When you were little, Genma wanted to take you on the trip, but I didn't want him to. At first I used a shoe, then a small wooden basin, and finally the table to persuade him not to take you away. That is until he created this." Nodoka grabbed a long wrapped bundle and pulled a piece of paper from inside, before handing it to him.

"What's this?" He asked, reading the chicken scratch that Genma was prone to write with, along with some small hand and a thumb prints. "I'll commit Seppuku, Saotome Genma, Ranma. What the hell is this? Seppuku for what?"

"Genma promised to make you a man among men." She replied, dabbing at her eye with a sleeve.

"Are you serious?"

"As the wife of a martial artist, I must take such vows seriously." She replied sagely. "But enough about that, I'm sure from the stories Genma has told about you that you've become very manly."

"Yea, real manly." He gave Genma a suspicious look, the big panda trying to look innocent. 'Like I would commit seppuku over this.' He flung the piece of paper to slide to the other side of the table.

"So what did you learn from your special training mission? Surely you brought your mother back a souvenir, Genma said that he told you that you would be coming back here after Jusenkyo."

"Did he now?" Looking over at the panda trying to look innocent, Ranma's eyes flashed white for a brief moment. "I guess I do have something." Digging through his pack, he looked for the bracelet he had stolen from the Musk. He supposed he could give that to her, he wasn't using it.

Finding and pulling out the three fourths band of gold, he was about to give it to Nodoka, when he noticed that the writing on the outside had changed. From unknown Chinese characters, they had become English ones. 'Wear this and human you shall be, listen well to my decree, no magics will change you thus, so be as you want or as you must.'

"That wasn't there before." He questioned, turning the piece of gold around, searching for the original inscription. "Puck." He sneered, the trickster must have known he would find this, maybe even purposely set things up so that he would.

"What's that son?" Nodoka asked.

#Looks expensive# Genma signed, suddenly interested.

"It probably is." He answered the sign, place the item on his left wrist. Throwing on his pack, he backed into the largest space he could find, and pulled out the Phoenix Gate. "Not sure when, but I'll be back. I got a bone to pick with you Pop." He explained. "Deflagrate muri tempi et intervallia."

X x x x x x

Genma stared at the spot where a ball of fire had just consumed his son. Did Ranma just use magic?

"Genma." Nodoka said slowly.

#Yes dear?# He signed nervously.

"Where is my son?"

Gulping, he held up another sign. #I'm sure he'll be back# flip #Must have had a manly obligation# Producing another sign. #Since he's very manly#

"Oh, well I suppose that's alright then."

Genma let out a breath of relief. There was a reason he decided to go on the training trip and abandon his beautiful wife, way beyond what a man of average looks like himself could have gotten.

X x x x x x

With a flash of light, Ranma returned to New York City. Specifically the Eyrie building, the tallest in the entire world, with the Castle Wyvern sitting on top. He took a moment to get his bearings, his stomach was doing back flips and his head was swimming. Once he felt back to normal, he put the Phoenix Gate into a pocket of his pack for safekeeping,

"No more trips around the world like that for me."

Having purposely avoiding coming to, or flying around the building since traveling, he moved reluctantly up the steps through the huge inner gate. The very steps a long dead Prince had walked one thousand years ago to greet him and the Xanatos family as they arrived, back when this was a functioning castle.

An image flashed through his mind, this courtyard filled with dead and burning corpses, and all around the human casualties, the stone remains of smashed gargoyles. Freezing mid step, he whimpered and placed his face in his hands. A couple on a park bench being blown apart by Demona. Her pleading with him to help her kill people, and his failure to stop her.

Sniffling, he focused past his self loathing at the sound echoing through the corridor of the gate house to him. 'That's right, I have something I need to do.' He found the source of the noise to be originating from the Great Hall.

Inside the marble floored room, he found Xanatos and Owen hard at work welding something to the front of gargoyle shaped robots. Every robot looked the same, with a strong likeness Goliath, and were colored a mix of silver and black.

Dropping off his pack, he stepped up behind the oblivious Owen and tapped him on the shoulder. It took a moment for the blond man to respond, but he shut off his torch, raised his welding mask, and turned to give him a surprised look, as if he had never met him before. "We need to talk."

"I'm not sure how you got up here." Owen started before Ranma grabbed the man by the front of his suit and lifted him up off his feet.

"Don't act like you don't know who I am." He growled.

"Security seems like it's become lax." Xanatos commented, removing the mask he was using to protect his eyes.

"I'll handle this sir." Owen said casually, not at all concerned that he could, and felt like ripping him in two.

"I'll expect a full report." Xanatos turned back to his work.

"Perhaps we should find a more quiet place to talk?" Owen asked, still hanging in the air.

"Fine." He slowly set the taller man down.

Owen took a second to straighten his suit. "Please follow me."

Ranma kept an eye on Owen as he followed him into a large office, where the blond sat down behind a desk. Raising his left wrist, he showed off the bracelet. "Why did the words change on this?"

"Words? Change?"

"Cut the crap, everything since I met Demona, you probably watched. And I bet it was you that made me find this. So explain why this changed from some old Chinese into English, and what it does."

"It's easy enough to deduce, that item will keep you in human form."

"Why? Why let me have it?"

"Why not?"

That stopped him from going into some kind of tirade about how if Puck messed with his life anymore the only thing left of him would be a fine red paste. "So what now? What are you two doing with those robots?"

"Mr. Xanatos and I are attempting to fix the mess that you and Demona created."

"Hey! I didn't." He trailed off. "If you knew what she was doing, why didn't you just say a few words and fix everything?"

"Oberon's law prevents me from directly interfering in mortal affairs."

"How convenient, you mess with me just fine but when peoples lives are on the line you fall back on something stupid like that."

"You look tired." Owen shifted gears on him, disregarded his statement.

"So what?"

Owen pulled from his desk a small pad of paper and quickly wrote something on it, before holding it out for him to take it. "Directions to a room where you can get some sleep. Tonight we will be breaking the spell, and your assistance would be appreciated."

"How are you going to break it?" His hand shot out to take the piece of paper.

"Didn't Demona explain the spell to you?"

"Just what it did."

"The spell is set to last until the sky burns. We will release an innate gas into the sky above the city, at a preset time, the robots will be detonated, causing the gas to burn. For a time the sky will appear to be on fire."

"And you expect me to help you after everything you did?"

"Don't think of it as helping me, but all the humans around the world who saw the broadcast."

"I'll have to think about it."

"Goliath and his clan has already agreed to help."

"I'm not Goliath or his clan." He snapped and turned to go get his pack before finding the place on the note.

X x x x x x

Owen watched Ranma leave his office with a calm detachment. This was after all part of his plan, but it seemed to be happening too soon. Ranma's reaction to the bracelet of staying would tell him everything he needed to know.

X x x x x x

"Huh? Where am I?" Ranma asked, looking around at the clearing of a forest he now found himself in. Everything was dark and he could barely see past the tree line. Something about it looked familiar, snapping his fingers, he realized that it was the clearing he had first arrived into when he went into the past to Castle Wyvern.

"Beast!" A hateful voice yelled from behind him, and he was pelted with small pebbles.

"Ouch! Hey stop it!" Spinning he ducked to the side and caught a few of the flying rocks, but before he could reprimand his attacker, everything stopped. "Weird." Opening up his hands, to see the rocks he had been hit with, he found that he had a half a gargoyle face in each hand, his own face. Throwing away the stone, he rapidly wiped his hands together to get rid of any remaining dust.

"Congratulations boy!" A heavy hand clapped him on his back, and he found Genma's smiling face in his vision. "You're cured!"

"Cured?"

"You don't turn into a monster anymore."

"I never turned into a monster." He growled, slapping Genma's hand away. "And I still turn into a gargoyle at night."

"Not anymore, you have that thing!"

"So what? Doesn't mean I'm going to use it."

"Why not? Don't you want to be my manly son?" Nodoka asked appearing from behind Genma.

"I don't even know you!" Stepping away from the pair.

"So you want to be a monster?" The red haired woman asked.

"Why do people keep thinking gargoyles are monsters?" He roared, spreading his wings, and stomping a foot. "Eh? When did I change?" He relaxed and glanced down at his hands, the four digits now ending in talons.

"Don't look wife." Genma gathered Nodoka up in his arms, pressing her face into his chest. "Don't see what our son has become."

Growling in response, he didn't know what his old man was trying to con him with, but it wasn't going to work. "Old man, what are you trying to do?"

"To see my son has fallen so far!" Genma cried dramatically. "I taught him to protect the weak, and so soon after leaving ME, he has already thrown that all away!"

"What do you mean?" His anger evaporated.

"You helped that monster turn people to stone, who knows how many have died because of you." Nodoka turned her head away from Genma and glared at him.

"Nobody was supposed to die! That was Demona who killed them!"

"We're not talking about them, we're talking about the ones who died crashing in cars, working in factories, airplanes that crashed, you helped her do it, the blood is on your hands too!" Nodoka yelled at him.

Staggering backwards, he didn't want to admit to being the cause of so much suffering. In front of him, the ground heaved and broke apart, stone hands reaching up from the gaps, and misshapen human forms rose up. All of them started to shout curses at him and stagger forward. Turning to run, he found more stone humans blocking his path. Trying his left and right sides, he found those blocked too. The clearing was filled with them.

"Stay away!" He warned, but they disregarded his warning, and when the first broken fingers touched him, he swung his arm to knock it away, and the stone human who had touched him exploded into a cloud of dust. Around him all of the stone figured exploded, a wave of dust collapsing inwards to smother him.

Buried underneath a fine powder, he struggled to pull himself up for air, breaking the surface with a hand he clumsily hauled himself half way out. Gasping, he clawed the dust in a futile attempt to pull the rest of himself free. Kicking his feet and flapping his wings, he was able to get out, and collapsed a moment later from the effort on his side.

"Do you still think you have a place among humans?" Demona asked him.

"What?" Looking around, he was back at Demona's mansion, sitting on the roof, and watching the people on the street below.

"The humans, do you really want to go back to them?" She asked again, standing an arms reach away.

"I don't know." He answered, remember that this had happened the morning after his trip through time.

"You still hold out hope that they'll accept you?"

There was no answer he could give, she had already said what he wanted. "If it was the reverse, wouldn't you want the same?" He asked.

"Humans have always treated me poorly, the few exceptions, have only proven how rotten their species is as a whole." She hopped up on the ledge and crouched, looking out at the street with a sneer. "Since I left Castle Wyvern, I have seen nations rise and fall, their weapons go from the sword to devices that could kill everything on this planet. A species inherently good, would not expend so much effort to destroy their neighbor."

"So then why don't you hate me?" He turned his head to look at the immortal gargoyle.

"If time is immutable, then that implies a level of fate. In which case, you were fated to become a gargoyle. So to me, how you were born, was a mistake corrected." Hopping back off the ledge, she turned, and headed off for the roof access door.

Ranma's eyes snapped open, to reveal the room he had been loaned to get some sleep. On a small table next to the bed, sat the gold band. Reaching out, he pulled it from the table and brought it closer. Staring at the three fourths band of gold, its intricate embossed shapes, the words he could now read on the outside.

He was reasonably sure that the item would do just as described in the incantation. If it would have done that before Puck had tampered with it, he wasn't sure, not that it really mattered at this point. Pushing off the covers, he sat up.

Sleep had been easy to get, while he was no longer physically exhausted, he was mentally drained. Connecting Demona's hatred of humans, to her actions was all too easy in hindsight. While she hadn't made her plans clear from the start, she had always been open and honest with her hatred.

Setting down the bracelet on the bed, he pulled over his pack, and after placing it between his legs started to search through it. Retrieving a set of clothes, a red shirt, and black pants, he unfolded the shirt and pulled nervously at the back of the shirt.

Unlike everything else he now owned, these weren't made to accommodate his other form. With the bracelet he could be fully human again. He could go back to Japan, go back to living his life the way it had been. Live with his father again, get to know his mother for the first time. That plan had some merit, back to the life of a martial artist. Living a semi-normal human life, no magic, just normal.

Taking the bracelet, he wrapped it up in the red shirt, and placed it back in his pack. What kind of normal life could he lead now? After the things he had seen in such a short time, could he go back to Genma, and forget?

'It'll be night soon.' He thought, glancing out the window of his temporary room several stories below the castle, and still taller than the majority of buildings in the city. The only ones in his vision that were close, were the twin towers.

Running a hand through his hair, he stopped, and groaned. His temporary room was like a hotel unit, with a small attached toilet and bathroom. Doing his best to wash up before filling up the tub, he sank into the far too hot water, and tried to let himself relax.

X x x x x x

It wasn't till after sundown that he appeared back up in the castle. When he arrived through use of the elevator in the great hall, he found Elisa and Owen turned to stone, neither looking very happy with the other. Standing next to one of the robots was Xanatos wearing a suit or armor like his Goliath robots, only it had a metallic red and dark gray theme. David was still in the process of welding something to another suit of armor, but pulled off his mask to greet him.

"Evening Ranma, I'm sorry that you declined my hospitality the other night."

"Sorry－ about all this." He bowed his head.

"Don't worry, if all goes according to plan, this will all be nothing more than a bad memory." Xanatos sounded far too cheery for Ranma's liking.

"Except for the people Demona killed." He said sadly.

"There were causalities? I'm sorry, I didn't know, I haven't had time to take a break today." Picking up the welding mask, Xanatos motioned with his other hand towards the several robots still without a small pack on their chest. "If you'll excuse me I need to finish up before Goliath arrives."

"Yea－ sure."

Not being asked, knowing how, or finding the sound produced by Xanatos welding very comfortable, Ranma headed out of the great hall. With a powerful leap, he landed on top of a five meter dividing wall in a crouch. Another one carried him up on top of the great hall itself, where he crossed to jump up on the square tower coming up from the back wall. Or what would have been the back when it still functioned as a castle.

Other than the sound of Xanatos welding, it was once again a quiet night due to the cities inhabitants being turned to stone. What had ever possessed him to go along with Demona's plan? Had he really been stupid enough to think that this was a good idea?

Growing restless, he nearly jumped over the edge, when he caught sight of a familiar shape approaching. Taking a step back, he growled deeply, watching Demona land on the tower. Eying her warily, he noticed that she had the big heavy mace attached to her hip.

"What are you doing here?" They both asked in unison, Ranma with suspicion, and Demona with a cold detachment. "I'm." They started before stopping. Pausing, they started to circle each other.

"Well?" He asked.

"To ensure the spell remains in effect." She replied casually.

"How did you know that they're trying to fix it?"

"Why wouldn't Xanatos? This does not benefit him."

"This doesn't benefit anyone!" He shouted and Demona continued to look unconcerned at his outburst. Instead choosing to move in closer to him.

"What would you have me do then?" She asked. "Make peace with the humans? Serve the humans again? Are you that naive?" Demona took another step closer, and Ranma took one back.

"I don't know, but this." He pointed out at the silent city. "Is wrong."

"So you're still going to side with the humans."

"I'm not siding with anyone!"

He fell silent along with Demona. The bright red haired woman staring at him with her dark green eyes. The hard look on her face softened, and her stance became less aggressive. "I won't interfere."

"Really?" He asked hopefully, pleasantly surprised.

"Answer me this though, if you are not with me, what will you do?" Demona asked.

"Well I'll go－ I－ somewhere."

"With who?"

"My Pops, I guess." Crossing his arms, he furrowed his brow in thought.

"Your father? The man who abandoned you?"

"At least he's not a murderer." He snarled.

"I thought we went over this before? Why would I limit myself by their laws? I've lived since before this land mass was even known to those in Europe, why are my laws any less valid?" Demona thumped a fist against her chest as she finished.

Looking at Demona, Ranma felt like he was seeing her for the first time. She may have looked young, acted immature at times, but she was an immortal gargoyle. She wasn't human, she wasn't brought up like he was, the world she had grown up in was one that the strong made all the rules.

"Because laws work when everyone goes by them." He said hesitantly, trying to get his point across.

"If humans respect their laws so much, why do they need police?"

"Er－ that's because some people break the laws and need to be punished."

"Like you?"

"What about me?"

"You've broken the law many times since I've met you."

"That's different! I－ uh－" He searched his brain for some explanation.

"You think because you don't hurt anyone that it's alright." Demona said before he could say anything similar. Again she took a step towards him, and he took a step back, bumping into the stone. "Hypocrite, yours is a mentality of convenience."

"So what now? I'm not perfect, but I always try to protect the weak, and that's not something that'll change."

"Now? Now I'm going to go see what Xanatos is up to." Like she had a hundred times before, Demona didn't say anymore, instead she used the tower access stairs to leave him standing alone.

Following after her, she paused at the bottom, feeling a wall for something. Finally finding what she was looking for, and with a heavy click, she pushed against the wall, creating a small doorway. Demona stepped through and a moment later he followed her into the darkness. Straining his eyes to see in the pitch black tunnel, he could see a hint of light at the end.

"Remain quiet, they must not know of my presence." Demona whispered before adding as an afterthought. "If there's a fight they won't undo the spell."

Agreeing with that, if anyone saw her they would likely try to subdue her, and if he couldn't do it, what chance did anyone else have? Of course if they had a rematch he would win. Bumping into Demona at the end, she pushed him away, and gave him a dirty look. With the little bit of light coming through a crack in the wall he could just make out that she was holding in a snarl. Pressing a talon to her lips, she made a low shh noise. Hearing voices from the other side of the wall he pressed his ear to the stone to try and listen.

"I was expecting you sooner." Xanatos spoke.

"We had to look for someone." Goliath answered. "And what is Elisa doing here?"

"She doesn't look happy." A third voice, Brooklyn he guessed.

"Owen sometimes has that effect on people." Xanatos joked and Ranma growled thinking that Owen brought it on himself.

"Why have you brought out your robots?" Goliath asked.

"They're an integral part of the plan, the spell is designed to end when the sky burns." Xanatos explained.

"And you can make that happen?" Goliath said doubtfully.

"No, but we can. We'll fly over the city carrying these packs. They've been rigged to release a harmless gas, at a preset time, the packs will detonate, and the gas will ignite. I'll lose all my robots, but I can afford it. For ten seconds, the sky will appear to be on fire. Hopefully, that will break the spell."

On the other side of the wall there was a loud sniffing, then several loud harsh sounding barks, and a clawing at the wall. Demona's hand suddenly snaked out and pushed him away from the wall. Someone on the other side of the wall spoke, and whatever it was clawing at the wall stopped.

Remaining still, he listened to a loud clanking from outside, that he guess was due to the robots walking. When it was once again quiet, Demona reached out and grasped a handle on the inside of the wall, and pulled the stone open. Brushing aside a tapestry that hid the door, she walked out confidently into the room.

"This is a pleasant surprise." Demona purred, looking at Owen and Elisa frozen in stone. "The annoying detective, speechless."

"Well now that you know what they're doing, you should go in case they, what are you?" He suddenly changed topics in mid sentence, looking at that bulldog gargoyle he had seen in the clock tower. No longer stone, it was a flesh and blood creature, with a darker blue color over most of it, and a light blue underside.

"That is Bronx, he is a gargoyle beast." Demona explained.

"Is he friendly?" He wondered, crouching down as the big animal approached him slowly. Bronx easily matched him in weight, with huge heavy shoulders, and thick forearms.

"If he saw you as an enemy, you would know about it."

Holding out a hand, Bronx sniffed him a few times before his entire demeanor changed to that of a happy dog, quickly butting up against him to be petted. "Heh, just like a big dog." Petting Bronx, he was slightly unnerved by his white pupil-less eyes, but he seemed really friendly, panting and letting his tongue roll out like Ranma remembered Ryoga's dog Shirokuro doing.

Being careful of his own talons, Ranma lightly scratched the beast. Being this close he could feel that Bronx was nothing but muscle, making the blue animal angry would likely get him torn up.

"Long ago he was the guard dog of this castle. Gargoyle beasts are good judges of character." At Demona's last explanation, Bronx suddenly turned towards her and gave off a bark.

"Doesn't seem to like you." He joked and turned back to see Demona hitting several keys on a computer setup against the wall. "What are you doing?"

Demona stood up straight, not looking away from the screen. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice." Pressing one last key, the computer beeped several times, and a countdown from thirteen minutes and eight seconds started.

"What have you done?" He asked softly, not wanting to believe his eyes. Bronx gave an angry bark, rushing over to stand protectively between Demona and the Elisa statue.

X x x x x x

"I've set the gas packs to detonate early, the spell won't be broken." Turning from the computer screen, Demona watched Ranma's face grow progressively more feral. 'It's really too bad that he saw that.' She thought sadly, Ranma's face now a mask of fury, his eyes glowing a bright white.

"You lied." He snarled, his wings rising from his shoulders, and spreading behind him.

"I couldn't miss this opportunity to get rid of Goliath and his clan." She replied calmly, keeping her eyes firmly on Ranma, waiting for any signs of attack. "I'll take any advantage I can get."

"How could you!" Ranma roared, leaping towards her.

Demona was barely able to dodge to the side before Ranma was at her position. There was no time to consider attacking, as Ranma forced her to defend from several lightning quick claw swipes. Putting several paces between herself and Ranma, she was prepared for him pouncing, and rolled forward underneath him. Finishing up her roll in a crouch, she reached for her mace, letting her hand hang over the handle, ready to attack.

Ranma landed heavily on the floor on all fours, instantly digging his claws in and stopping his forward movement. Tightening her hand around the mace, Demona watched Ranma rip his claws free of the floor and turn back to her. 'This might be bad.' She thought. During the previous night she had been unable to beat him in hand to hand. Now without her laser rifle, and currently being stuck inside, she was at the disadvantage.

She didn't have to wait long, Ranma charged forward blindly again. Stepping forward, she swung the mace upwards to catch him in the chest. One blow and she would be done, Ranma would have to put up with healing from several broken ribs, but he would live. The spikes on her mace were worn blunt from her previous nights activities, and shouldn't penetrate a gargoyles skin.

Instead of the satisfying feeling of striking flesh, it felt like she had struck a ten inch wall of steel, when all she had hit was Ranma's outstretched left hand. His right came over and closed around the handle, and she tried to pull it away, but found it frozen in his grasp. Ranma's next move was too fast, he tore the mace from her grasp, and spun around to sweep her legs out with his tail.

She hadn't even reached the floor when she was struck again, slamming into the floor, she found herself pinned to the ground with Ranma straddling her from above. She struggled against his grasp, above her, the boy pulled back his right arm and made a fist. Ineffectually clawing at him, she screamed when the fist came down at her face. In a last ditch effort she brought her hands up to block.

X x x x x x

Inside his exo-frame armor, David Xanatos smiled, the plan going perfectly. There was only enough gas in the packs to cover the majority of the city. Even with his robots covering the majority of the ground, there simply wasn't enough time to cover more. 'I'll have to make sure I have a larger supply of robots after this.'

Flying next to Goliath, the lavender gargoyle almost seemed happy. "It looks like your plan will work Xanatos."

"I had no doubt about that." He spoke, a speaker broadcasting his voice loud enough to be heard. "I'm more worried about that－ beast, of yours shredding my tapestry."

"What tapestry?" Goliath questioned.

"The twelfth century piece on the south wall. Bronx was clawing at it when we left." He answered, turning his head to look at Goliath.

"We must return to the castle." Goliath said urgently, veering away without waiting for a response.

Raising an eyebrow, David braked himself in air, twisting upwards to hover briefly, before swinging around and following to catch to Goliath.

X x x x x x

Slowly peeking an eye open, Demona wondered why her brains weren't splattered all over the floor. To her left was Ranma's arm, buried to the elbow in the floor, and his arm lightly touching the side of her face. He pulled his arm up and out of the stone, his fist a bloody mess. Looking past his hand, she saw that his eyes were no longer glowing, now looking at her with despair.

"Why? You're the only one I have left. I can't be alone, every time I think about it, it feels like someone is tearing out my insides." (1)

"You annoying idiot." She said sadly.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this tender family moment." A male voice with a heavy Scottish accent said from the side.

Both she and Ranma looked to where a human was stepping out from the secret passage. Clad in a heavy black trench coat with a layer of body armor covering his chest, was a heavily built man. His face was obscured by a black mask without any visible eye holes. Three red diagonal slashes ran across the eyes from the upper left, to the bottom right.

"The Hunter!" She gasped, pushing the confused Ranma off of her. "How did you find me?"

"With the city turned to stone, it wasn't hard to see all the gargoyles and robots taking off from the worlds tallest building."

"Ranma we need to leave." She took her eyes off the man for a moment and found Ranma looking confusedly between her and the Hunter. "Idiot!" She smacked the side of his head. "He'll kill us both!"

"I'm not here for him Demona, I'm here for you." The Hunter explained. "I have hunted you through the centuries, for my vengeance."

Demona's eyes widened briefly, and she started to calm down. No Hunter had ever called her by her name. She doubted that they even knew it, always referring to her as The Demon. "Macbeth, take off that mask, your little mind game is over."

The human reached up and pulled off the mask, revealing the gray bearded face of her greatest enemy and ally. The spell binding them together, sharing their pain, and keeping them alive eternally. "I wear this as a reminder of your treachery." He spat. "Treachery it seems, even against your own kin."

"Let's not start that again, you blame me, I blame you, aren't you tired of arguing about it?" She was feeling more sure of herself, Ranma was mentally out of commission, and wouldn't be testing the limits of her immortality tonight, and Macbeth would never hurt her. "You know the rules, if I die, you die. Killing me will gain you nothing but your own death."

"After this long a life." Macbeth brushed his jacket aside and pulled a strange pistol from a holster on his right thigh. It had a drop underneath the end of the barrel, with a silver circle where the barrel should be, and another at the far bottom of the drop. "I have no fear of that. Revenge, is a dish best eaten cold Demona."

Taking several steps back, she was waiting for Goliath and his clan to show up, just to make this night absolutely perfect. Best she could hope for was that Ranma would side with her against Macbeth. Whoever Ranma sided with, she was in trouble, she amended. Any hit to the human would double back on her at this close range.

"And I have waited nine hundred years for this meal." Macbeth's hand tightened on his weapon. At the front electricity arced between the metal circles, and shot towards her at high speed. Taking the shot to the chest, she screamed, and fell to her knees. Macbeth clutched himself and fell to his side.

"Don't you ever give up?" She got out through gritted teeth. Macbeth didn't answer, except to train the lightning gun back on her. Dodging to the right, she shot forward and kicked the gun from his hand, causing it to skitter across the floor to rest at Ranma's feet. Briefly clutching the same hand she had just kicked, she was kicked in the stomach by Macbeth, causing her to stagger back.

"Enough!" Ranma shouted, and on the floor between them a bolt of lightning struck the floor. Giving several deep breaths, she and Macbeth looked away from each other towards Ranma. "Whatever is going on between you two, can wait till after Demona fixes the computer."

"Ranma, shoot him." She knew it would hurt like hell, but if she mentally prepared herself, Macbeth might be knocked out.

"Give me the gun laddie." Macbeth held out his hand.

"Shoot him Ranma and I'll reset the clock." Taking a step towards her former house guest, Macbeth did the same.

"Don't believe her, she can't be trusted." Macbeth countered.

"Shut up!" Ranma yelled, firing the gun at the floor again in front of both of them.

Before she could think of her next words, the floor in front of her gave out. Scrambling away from the collapsing tiles, and finding a safe spot, she found Macbeth waiting. Tackled by the gray haired human, they tumbled backwards over the edge.

X x x x x x

Cutting off the power to the small jet engines on the bottom of his feet, Xanatos depressurized his suit, and removed his helmet. Goliath landed next to him a moment later, David's jet powered suit having been the faster, allowing him to catch and pass him during their flight. The gargoyle didn't wait, slamming open the door to the hall. They were just in time to see Demona be tackled by Macbeth over a huge hole in the floor.

'I suppose I'll have to have that reinforced.' Taking a moment to check for Owen, he found his eternal servant safe with Elisa being held from falling into the pit by Ranma. Seeing that Goliath was going to deal with that, he powered up his boot rockets and hovered over the hole to the computer.

"This is bad." Rapidly typing on the keyboard he tried to stop the countdown. "The gas packs are set to detonate ten minutes early."

"You have to stop it." Goliath said the obvious.

"I'm trying, but there's an access code, so I'm locked out. I'm guess it was Demona that changed it, so she's the only one who can save the city now."

X x x x x x

Slamming into Demona, Ranma and the other red head, broke through several thick wooden support pillars for the stone above. Breathing heavily, he and Demona rolled out of the way of falling debris, that fell a moment later. Macbeth took advantage of his attack, and forced Demona to grapple with him. The old Scotsman, strong enough to fight her on equal footing.

"Stop this madness!" Goliath shouted, stepped forward to grab Demona and Macbeth's arms.

"We're busy!" Ranma shouted, drop kicking the big gargoyle. Landing, he turned in time to be hit by a punch from both his opponents. Grinding to a halt in a pile of stone and wood, he looked up and found Xanatos pointing an arm at the two immortals.

"If you're not going to listen to reason, you leave me no choice." On top of Xanatos' forearm, his armor rose up, revealing a silver cylinder. "But to put you down and sort it out after." A bright red laser beam shot from the barrel, missing the duo, and exploding a large portion of a wall behind them. The concussive force, knocking both of them towards Xanatos.

"You're not the only one with weapons laddie." Reaching into his coat, Macbeth pulled out a grenade, and threw it on the floor between all of them.

"You idiot!" Ranma yelled and was rocked by the force of the grenade exploding.

The much abused floor below finally gave way, allowing all five of them to plummet downwards and into the atrium underneath the castle. Being struck by several large stones, he spun wildly in an attempt to find his balance. He opened his wings just in time to avoid landed face first in the pond below, instead he bellyflopped.

Lightly bumping into the bottom, he slowly floated up to the surface, and gasped for breath. Reaching up, he grabbed the walkway that crossed the pond, and he hauled himself up and over the railing to flop awkwardly face first to the floor. Coughing out water, his view of the floor darkened, and someone grabbed his left arm, before dragging him across the ground.

"I don't know your name laddie, but it's only right that Demona lose as much as I before this ends." Macbeth explained and hauled him up, showing to Ranma a jagged piece of metal rising up from a chunk of stone. His eyes widened and he struggled against Macbeth's grasp, finding the old man's strength a match for his own."I'll make it quick."

"No! Don't do it!" Goliath called out from the edge of the pond. "Think about what you're doing, what will killing him accomplish? Death never solves anything."

"He's right Macbeth." An elderly female voice said from their left. Looking over, Ranma saw three short elderly Japanese women in silver kimonos.

"I thought she died." He frowned, that was the old woman he remembered would help him out of the neko-ken. Why were there three of them? And why would she be here? Macbeth seemed just as shocked over the strange women, and dropped him to smack his face against the walk way.

X x x x x x

Macbeth released the gargoyle in his hands and shook his head repeatedly to clear the image from his mind. It was the three old hags who had predicted the tragic end to his family, and later bound him to Demona. Standing there in the same tattered rags, their dark eyes glowing out from underneath thick hoods.

"Duncan was afraid that your father would make you king. Did your father's death stop you from becoming king?"

"No!" He yelled at the silver haired one who had spoke.

"You wanted revenge for your father, did Gillecomgain's death settle that score?" The black haired one asked.

"No." He replied without enthusiasm.

"Did your own death, save your son Luach, from Canmore?"

"No." He answered sadly, memories of being forced to leave his family after his supposed death assaulting him.

"Death is never the answer, life is." Goliath called to him.

"I'm just so－ tired." Suddenly it was as if all the centuries he had lived were crushing down upon him. 'So long.' Around him, the three old hags gathered.

"Then sleep Macbeth." Doing as commanded, his body fell limp, and he dropped to the floor.

X x x x x x

"Normally I'd be fascinated by all this." David Xanatos activated his boot jets, and shot forward to land next to the trio of young woman in tight fitting clothing. "But I need that access code to save my city."

With a wave of the blonde's hand, Demona rose up to her feet. "You must give them the code."

"I will have vengeance for the betrayal of my clan." Demona replied mechanically. "Vengeance for my pain."

"But who betrayed your clan?" The black haired one asked.

"And who caused this pain?" The white haired one added.

"The Vikings destroyed my clan." Demona said angrily.

"Who betrayed the castle to the Vikings?" Black hair again.

"The Hunter hunted us down." Demona ignored the previous question.

"Who created the Hunter?" The blonde asked.

"Canmore destroyed the last of us." Demona stated sadly.

"Who betrayed Macbeth－ to Canmore?" The white haired girl asked, and a marked change overcame Demona's face. The permanently hard cast to her face softened, changing into a look of sorrow.

"Demona, your quest for vengeance has only created more sorrow. Please, give us the code, end the cycle." Goliath pleaded.

Demona's face fell even further, tears starting to stream from her eyes. "The access code is." Slowly looking down at Ranma, she answered. "Alone."

'Well that's as good as any.' David thought, putting the output of his boot rockets to maximum, and shooting upwards through the atrium. Passing through the first and second hole in the floors, he cut the jets and landed heavily next to the computer controlling the gas packs. Finding the countdown with only ten seconds left, he rapidly typed in the word. Finally getting access, he stopped the countdown.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, he wiped some sweat that had been forming at his brow. Obviously this kind of situation was getting to him. Hearing a short bark, he turned around, and found Bronx staring angrily at him.

"What are you looking at?"

X x x x x x

Ranma got shakily to his feet, and leaned against the railing of the flat bridge. 'Gillecomgain? Canmore? Hunter? That stuff Macduff talked about was true?' Everything was happening so fast, and his head was still swimming from having a concussion grenade go off at his feet.

"How are you still alive? Pop said you died, and that was years ago." He asked, drawing the attention of all three old ladies. Each one of them was a perfect replica from his memory.

"This one isn't supposed to be here."

"No bother, this saves us from retrieving him later."

"Huh? What are you talking about." Looking quickly between all three of them, they left Demona's side to surround him.

"Rest." All three of them commanded, and he felt tired all of a sudden, like he had been up for days on end.

Shaking himself out, he narrowed his eyes at the one in front of him. "Magic?" Pushing past them, he felt the drowsiness dissipate. "Stay away from me."

"Magic?" Demona seemed to have come out of the spell placed on her. "You tricked me!" Her eyes burned red.

"Demona, let's go, they're trying to do something to us." He pleaded with her.

"Get away from me!" She back handed him weakly to the face, and he took a step away from the growling woman. Bringing up a hand he felt where she had hit him. "None of this was my fault! It was the humans! Always the humans! And you are the worst human of them all!" Demona finished hatefully and jabbed a talon in his face.

"Demona you have learned nothing!" Goliath jumped into the mess.

"Nothing but your lies!" She replied. "I will still have my revenge!"

Ranma backed away slowly until a small hand grabbed his wrist. Looking down he found one of the old women. "Let go!" He tried to pull his hand free but found it held firmly, he couldn't even budge her arms.

"Let go of me!" Demona screamed in front of him, thrashing wildly, both of her arms held firmly by two more of the strange old women.

"You are tired." The one holding him released a hand, and waved it once towards his face. "Sleep." Ranma wanted to protest, but found himself unable to resist the command this time, and he slumped to the ground.

X x x x x x

Goliath looked confusedly at the three forms laying on the ground, with three young human children standing around them. These children were magical, despite their young appearance, and if he had to guess, they were like Puck, members of the Third Race. "I can understand Macbeth and Demona, but why have you cast your sorcery over Ranma? He's just a child." He asked.

"We have written their stories, they are our children, and we must take care of them once again." They answered as one, taking positions so that they surrounded all three, their bodies glowing a bright white.

"Wait! Who are you?"

"Should it come to that, such a story is for another day." The white outline of a little girl in front of him spoke, and in a bright flash of light, all of them were gone. Scratching his head, he still wished that someone would tell him what was going on.

X x x x x x

Since everything in the castle seemed to be taken care of, David Xanatos stood on top of the far front gatehouse, deactivated of course, no one other than a gargoyle would ever want to step out and drop hundreds of floors to get to the ground. Goliath and Bronx soon joined him, and the rest of Goliath's clan landed shortly before the time limit was up.

In the sky over the city a pale green gas was dispersing. The robots remained in the area, still doing their assigned tasks to spread it as much as possible, before exploding themselves and igniting it. "Any moment now." As if on cue, the nearest robot exploded, and all across the sky similar explosions flashed like fireworks.

"Come on, come on." He urged the reaction on. Finally off in some distant part of Manhattan, the spark ignited. Ribbons of fire arced over the city from the ignition point. Tracing the one that snaked over head, the area between the ribbons suddenly caught, and in a dramatic display, the entire sky lit up as if it was on fire.

"Magnificent." He said in awe, watching small pieces of ash fall around him. "I suppose we should go see if it worked?" Without waiting, he lit up his feet jets and headed for the Great Hall. The large rocket on his back was for long range flight, and was far too powerful for such a short range flight. While his jets allowed him to fly far faster than any gargoyle, his landed required more time, and he was the last one into the hall.

"It worked!" Brooklyn shouted and the clan of gargoyles ran up to huge a confused Elisa, who along with Owen, were back to flesh and blood. Owen, not wanting to be caught up in the festivities around Elisa, came to stand by his side.

"You'll forgive me if I just shake your hand?" He extended a hand to the trickster in disguise.

"Of course." Owen shook his hand. "I'm quite glad the pworked."

" There's something I need to talk to you about, but it can wait till later." Releasing the man's hand, he caught up with Goliath as he attempted to leave with his clan. "Goliath." The gargoyle turned and gave him a suspicious look. "We made a good team. You know all this time I wondered why I let you creatures live, and now I know. You come in handy now and then."

Goliath looked shocked briefly and then recovered to give him a sly look. "As do you." He said gruffly, adding as an afterthought. "Occasionally."

X x x x x x

November 13th, two days later

"The city－ honored Rosaria- Sanchez and Peter－ Choy, who last week－ pulled a five year old from the lake in Central Park, and－ resusatated him." Hudson read from the previous days paper, and shifted it over so that Broadway could take a turn.

"When asked about their heroic－ act, the teen－ agers agreed, it was the righ－ the righed." Broadway fumbled with the word.

"The right thing to do." Elisa finished.

"Hi Elisa." Broadway left the side of the reclining chair to approach Elisa at the steps, the human detective carrying several large books. "How did you know what they said? Were you there?" Elisa handed off the books to Broadway and stretched her back.

"No, but choosing to save the kid took courage, and that always feels right." She replied with a smile.

"Guess you do that all that time huh?"

"I'm no hero, I just do my job." Elisa stretched out her arms. "And my job for the night is over, all I want to do is hit the sack."

"Why would you want to hit a sack?" He asked, rubbing his beard.

"She means she's tired." Brooklyn explained.

"Then why didn't she say so?" Shaking his head, he wished Elisa would say things that made sense. Reaching a hand over the arm of the chair he scratched Bronx behind an ear, and buried his nose back in the paper. He would let the children have their conversation, if he got involved it would only lengthen their discussion. What did he know about computers, viruses, and programs?

Glancing over at Coldstone, he felt a wave of sadness settle over him. The mismatched parts creating the animated stone reminding him of all the children he had lost so long ago. A simple gargoyle by nature, he saw the dust for what it was, and wished Lexington would stop raising up Goliath's hopes with ideas of bringing the two gargoyles trapped inside back. Tuning out the children, he tried to get some more reading done before dawn.

"You'll figure out, I'll see you tonight, I gotta get some sleep." Elisa waved as she passed by to head down the steps.

"As do we." Goliath said as she left, indicating that the sun would rise soon. Folding up the paper, he headed out with the rest of his clan to greet the day.

X x x x x x

"Hey Morgan." Elisa greeted her friend at the entrance to the station. Letting off a loud yawn she stretched in a futile attempt to wake herself up.

"Yea I know the feeling, either my beats getting longer, or I'm getting older."

Sighing, she patted him on the shoulder. "Go home Morgan, I'll see you later." Giving him a tired smile, she headed down the eight steps to street level.

"You too." He replied after her.

Passing by a police woman with bright red hair, who gave her a dirty look as she passed, Elisa hadn't seen the badge before but she seemed familiar. Shrugging it off as a tired delusion, she caught sight of teenager being brought in. He may have been wearing different clothes and a baseball cap, but she recognized him immediately. Spinning at the bottom of the steps, she instantly started back up the steps. 'Ranma?'

"Hey girl, I thought you were heading off?" Morgan stopped her at the top.

"I forgot something." She tried to get around him.

"And then go home." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Uh, right." Heading back into the station after the human who spent his nights as a gargoyle, she had a lot of questions for him. When Goliath had finally calmed down after they had broke the stone by night curse Demona had put on the city, he had explained that Ranma, Demona, and Macbeth had all been taken by three weird sisters.

"Hey, wait a second!" She called after the woman in blue, and instead of stopping, both her and Ranma took off running up the steps. For a second she didn't follow, shocked at having someone run from her like that, but she recovered and started to run up the steps in pursuit.

Breathing heavily as she came to the top floor, her head snapped to the right, when a door was slammed. Rushing over, she opened up the door and found the normal faces milling about, and no signs of an Asian boy and woman. Slapping herself, Ranma knew about the clock tower, so she turned around and did indeed find the tower access door ajar.

Pausing at the door, she slowly opened it and found the retractable ladder up into the clock in it's down position. 'Why would Ranma run like that? And who was that woman?' Reaching into her jacket, she pulled out her service pistol.

Climbing the ladder she really didn't want to fire her gun up here. Everything up in the clock tower would cause a lot of complicated questions. Questions that would likely come with the cost of her job, and Goliath and his clan needing to move again. "Ranma?" She asked, trying to see in the immediate darkness at the top of the steps.

A hard kick to her wrist, nearly broke it, and sent her gun flying. The next thing she knew someone had picked her up in an impossibly strong grip around the waist, and held her up int the air. Struggling, she saw the woman in front of her, and that left Ranma as the one holding her. "Ranma! What are you doing? Lemme go!"

"Sorry Elisa." Ranma apologized and let her go, and immediately hit her in the back of the head. Crumpling unconscious, the last thing she felt was Ranma catching her.

X x x x x x

Macbeth expertly controlling his modified VTOL aircraft, as it rose into the sky. It was his own design, an open cockpit and cargo area in a standard cockpit and fuselage. Affixed to either side and angling downwards at a twenty degree angle were two half circle wings, each containing a single engine for vertical take offs.

Giving up on concentrating on his task, Macbeth rolled his eyes at the two bickering humans in back. Well one of them was human, the other most certainly wasn't, and being that she was far older than him, she certainly shouldn't be carrying on like she was.

"Why did you get in the way again?" Demona berated Ranma. "I could have finally rid myself of that insufferable human and Goliath forever."

"They were helpless, there's no honor in that." He finally decided to settle the issue.

"You two and your stupid code of honor." Demona snorted derisively.

"Would you stop complaining." Hitting the auto pilot and spinning his seat around to address the woman dressed as a police officer, his endless patience had run out. "Our stolen cargo is safely stored in back, and no one saw us leave. So lighten up, Demona."

All he got in response was an inarticulate snarl, so he spun the chair back around, and locked it back in place. Checking the controls and gauges, everything seemed to be right on course. The soft thump of Ranma landing in the other seat drew his attention.

"So where to next? We got the Phoenix Gate earlier from the castle, now we have the Grimorum and the Eye, and that Coldstone guy."

"Back to my estate, so we can reactivate him."

"I think he's creepy."

"Aye lad, I don't care for him either." Glancing at the boy, he saw that he was reading something. "When did you get that?"

"Grabbed it at the castle, and from you." Ranma gave him a sly grin.

"And here I thought that harpy in the back would have made you throw it away."

"This harpy." Craning his neck back he saw Demona had changed out of her police disguise and into her normal clothing. "Is not happy about the lies you've wrote about me. Don't believe a word he says Ranma."

"You never learn do you Demona?" Shaking his head sadly, if only the gargoyle would take responsibility for betraying him. Not for the first and not for the last, he cursed Bodhe, the cowardly father of his deceased wife Gruoch, for even suggesting that he betray Demona's clan to the English.

X x x x x x

Slowly raising up into a kneeling position, Elisa rubbed the back of her head, the area still throbbing from being hit. Looking up, she saw soft red light coming in from the translucent clock faces. "How long was I out?" Pushing back her red jacket to expose her wrist watch, she found that she had been out most of the day.

Remembering why exactly she had been forced to take a nap, she quickly ran out of a clock face and checked to make sure nothing had happened. "Oh thank God, all present and accounted for." Something was tugging at her mind though, something she had missed. "Coldstone!" Rushing back inside, the stone gargoyle was indeed missing from his place next to Lexington's computer.

"But how did they get him out of here?" Heading down the steps, she absently rubbed at her neck. "Even in New York someone would notice that." Sighing, she flopped down in the old reclining chair. "Might as well stop talking to myself and wait, it'll be sunset soon."

Hearing the crinkle of paper, she raised an arm, and found a small note pinned to the arm. 'How'd I miss that?' Unfolding it she frowned at the first line.

_'Sorry bout hitting you like that, Demona would have done worse. We have Coldstone, we'll be at Macbeth's place. See you soon.'_

Having to reread the last line, she wondered if Ranma was trying to be friendly, or sinister.

X x x x x x

Examining a painting, Ranma wondered just how much Macbeth had obsessed about Demona over the years. There were several paintings and stained glass windows depicting her. He did like the huge European castle themed house though, it was out in the country, lots of room, and plenty of fresh air. Something that the city lacked.

"We don't need to wait for sunset, you're still thinking like a gargoyle."

Ranma nodded at Macbeth's statement. Supposedly Coldstone would come to life and stay that way, regardless of the sun, so why did they have to wait to wake him up?

"I am a gargoyle!" Demona said from her place at the tall window. "Although this form does have its uses.

"At least she remembered to change clothes this time." He shook his head, earning him a glare from the other red head.

"Let's get on with it, put the disk in now!" Macbeth demanded.

"No, Coldstone doesn't know you, and he certainly wouldn't recognize me like this." Demona held up her hands with the palms up. "Finally."

He felt it too, the change already starting. As usual, he felt discomfort over what was happening, but nothing past a muscle cramp. Macbeth on the other hand, cried out in agony, doubling over and falling backwards against the wall. He wanted to go check to see if the old guy was alright, but he could barely move until it was over. Demona's mountain lion like roar signaled the end, and while he felt an urge to do something similar, he held it in.

"Is it supposed to hurt that much?" Macbeth asked. "I thought you said the changeling Puck turns you to a human during the day as a gift."

Demona looked nonplussed over Macbeth's discomfort, and wrapped her wings around her shoulders. "Puck's gifts always come with a price. It's a small consolation to know that you suffer far more than I do." She finished and flashed her eyes red. "I'll have to thank him, the next time I see him."

"Just get on with it." Macbeth pulled a floppy disk from his jacket and handed it to Demona.

A panel in the right chest of Coldstone had been flipped down, revealing an access panel for computer cords, and a disk drive. Demona placed the disk in the drive, and a motor sucked it inside. The opening briefly flashed white, and then the right eye of Coldstone flashed red. The cybernetic right eye with red in place of the white shifted to the left to view Demona.

"Sister." A smooth voice said from the living stone.

"How do you feel brother?" Demona asked.

"Vengeful." Coldstone answered.

"There will be plenty of time for that, how are our brother and sister doing?" Demona questioned.

"They will not be any trouble, they are happily living out their afterlives in a dream world." Coldstone's red eye and normal eye shifted to look at him, and back to Demona. "Who's he?"

"A useful annoyance I picked up recently. His name is Ranma." Demona explained.

"Our clan somehow? He reminds me of you sister."

"In a way."

"Nice to meet you I guess, Coldstone." He greeted falsely. There certainly was life behind the left eye, but everything about how Ranma was being looked at, told him the one running Coldstone was not to be trusted.

"If you three are done getting acquainted, we have preparations to make in order to meet our guests."

X x x x x x

"Ranma and Demona were taken by the Weird Sisters, how could they escape?" Goliath questioned, more for his own musing than expecting an answer. "And what about Macbeth? Did he escape with them as well?"

"I didn't see him." Elisa answered with a shrug.

"Are you sure it was Demona?" Brooklyn asked Elisa with his usual hostility.

"I got a decent look at her, same red hair, and she looked Japanese like Ranma. We know that she turns into a human, and that's gotta be more than a coincidence."

"So why would they steal Coldstone?" Lexington threw several books around.

"I don't know." He replied. "But we can't leave my brother in their hands."

"Aye, it's time we paid them a visit, and get to the bottom of it." Hudson suggested and Goliath realized how worrying that was. It was obviously a trap. Demona was using Macbeth's home because it had automated defenses, and likely didn't want to reveal her own home.

"This is terrible." Elisa all but shouted as his clan filed up the steps. "I want to come with you, but I have to go on duty in thirty minutes."

"I think the six of us can handle them." He said to her confidently. "You have an entire city to protect." He joked.

"You have a point." Elisa conceded and shook a finger at him as he headed up the steps. "Just be careful, and I want a full report later."

Finding the others waiting, he hopped up on to the railing, and a moment later he took off with his clan in tow. While outside he was projecting confidence, the kind a leader should have and inspire in those who looked to him for guidance. Inside was a different story, this situation screamed to him that something was wrong. Ranma and Demona working together was fine, it was the purpose and methods that worried him.

Demona had all the opportunity in the world to destroy his clan, and yet she hadn't, choosing instead to take a hostage. Elisa had brought up a good point, how did they get him out of the clock tower without being seen? The building was filled with humans during the day, and as far as he knew, Demona didn't have an aircraft capable of the task.

Ranma was also acting different. The last time he had seen the boy, he had been fighting tooth and talon to stop Demona's stone curse, taking grievous injuries in the process. Yet here he was not two days later, back with her, and with a sudden change of heart. None of it made sense to him. They would have to approach this very carefully. Demona on her own was dangerous, who knew what she and Ranma working together were capable of.

X x x x x x

Ranma closed up his book after hearing a pair of footsteps outside the door. He was sitting in a plush reclining chair in Macbeth's library. The room was vast, containing thousands of books, all held in book cases that reached from the floor to the second floor, and up the ceiling. In the center of the hardwood floor, was a four meter by four meter dark purple carpet, four chairs, and two tables with lamps. He was sitting with his back to the door, having found this chair to be the most comfortable to sit in with a tail.

"Look at all these books!" Broadway immediately spoke as he came in, and Ranma waited as the two gargoyles came around either side of him.

"You got actions ye need to answer for lad." Hudson told him, a hand wresting on the sword on at his left hip.

"Yea!" Broadway agreed. "Why'd you hurt Elisa?"

"Listen, I really don't want to hurt either of you, so how about you just give up now and we'll call it a night?"

"Sorry lad, but if you're plannin for us to give ourselves to you, we'll have to disagree." Hudson pulled his sword from his belt.

"Oh well, I tried." He shrugged, and stood up.

X x x x x x

Bursting the surveillance room door open, both Goliath and Lexington, stayed poised to attack should their targets be in the room. When they realized that no one was in the room, he caped his wings. "No one's here, let's go." Turning, Lexington grabbed his wing.

"No wait! I got an idea."

Rolling his eyes, he would have to let the smallest member of his clan, take a moment to sate his technology lust. Standing beside the chair Lexington had sat down on, he scanned the wall of small television screens, each on displaying a different room of the mansion.

"Hmm, let's see here." Lexington began to rapidly type on a keyboard. Slowly the views on the monitors cycled through different places, until finally one stopped on a dungeon shot. Chained to the floor was his brother Coldstone, struggling to free himself. "See? Easy as pie." The small gargoyle said, looking for praise.

"You're right, it's too easy." Leaning in, he examined the struggling blend of gargoyle and technology. "Still, we have no choice."

"Goliath, wait!" Lexington stood on the chair to put a hand on his shoulder. "Demona's gotten him operational again, but there's no way of knowing which of the three personalities are in control." Hitting several more keys, the screen zoomed in. "Just remember, one of them hates your guts."

Punching thought the face of the control panel, all the screens went dark. "Then I'll just have to be very careful."

X x x x x x

Opening the door to a large two story hall, Brooklyn followed Bronx in until they were both in the large patch of moonlight coming in from a window on the second floor. Crouching on all fours, he looked around. "Kind of spooky isn't it?" He commented and received a growl from Bronx, the gargoyle beast padding off to a door to the left. Immediately Bronx started to sniff and claw at the bottom.

"What is it boy?" He asked, opening up the door, to find pitch blackness. Bronx tried to move in, but he stopped him, and used a light switch to turn on an overhead. Letting Bronx go, the beast went and sniffed at the far wall. "Phew, just a closet." Spinning, he flipped off the light, and exited the room.

"Man, this place is almost as big as Castle Wyvern."

Hearing Bronx bark repeatedly, he turned around just in time to be slammed into by Demona. Breaking through a table, and sliding across the floor to impact a vase, sending a bust to smash to the ground. He felt himself immediately be picked up and thrown again. Slamming into a stone wall above a fireplace, he tumbled to the ground in front of it.

'Please tell me this isn't how this night is going to go.' He stood up, shaking his head to clear the fog. Bronx's barks alerted him to the beast, just in time to have the huge gargoyle beast, who had tried to jump Demona from behind, except she had ducked under him, crash into him. Now that he was in the fireplace, a very heavy gargoyle beast laying on him, Brooklyn realized that this night was going to suck.

X x x x x x

Catching the meaty fist aimed for his face, Ranma pivoted on his feet, and threw Broadway over his shoulder to go flying towards the wall. Broadway cried out as he impacted the rolling steel ladder back first, going through that, he hit the book shelf hard before collapsing and having several books fall on top of him.

Immediately stepping backwards, he dodged a downward slash from Hudson's sword. Deftly slipping around several more attacks, he had to give the old guy credit. The difference in speed between him and Broadway was minimal. Too bad for the sword wielding gargoyle, he was facing Saotome Ranma.

When the sword paused in its strike before Hudson would retract it, he reached out, and grabbed it with his talons. Encountering minor resistance, his claws still tore through the metal. Kicking Hudson, the old gargoyle tumbled backwards over a chair. "You could hurt someone with this." He extracted his fingers from the metal, and proceeded to twist it into an unusable mess.

"Yea you could!" Hit from behind, he was forced face first into the ground, and was instantly wrapped up in the steel ladder. "This'll stop you from jumping around."

"Hey let me go." Flopping around on the floor, he was just getting the metal to budge, when a hand came and grabbed the front of it.

"Sorry about this." Broadway said without sounding at all sorry.

"Aw crap."

X x x x x x

At the bottom of a long set of steps, Goliath and Lexington arrived in a large circular room, around the outside were a dozen room, each with a thick steel door. On the floor in the center, was the captive Coldstone, and Goliath couldn't keep a smile from his face at seeing his brother finally living again.

"Don't come any closer." Coldstone waved him off. "It's a trap."

"Not any more!" Broadway exclaimed, as both he and Hudson arrived, an unconscious Ranma slung over Hudson's shoulder.

"The lad was catching up on his reading." The elder gargoyle joked, unceremoniously depositing Ranma on the ground. "Wrecked my sword too."

"You don't understand! Demona is still out there!" Coldstone protested and in response, Demona's body flopped down next to Ranma's, with Brooklyn and Bronx standing over her.

"Guess again." Brooklyn said, looking like he was worse for wear.

"Did either of them say anything? About why they were working together again?" He asked and got negative responses.

"Maybe misery loves company." Hudson offered as an explanation.

"We'll figure it out later, let's free Coldstone." Lexington interrupted and trotted on all fours over to the prisoners side.

"You think it safe?" He asked, kneeling down next to the lock keeping the chains in place. The restraints were simple enough, four posts in the floor, and one long chain attached to each arm and leg.

"He seemed genuine to me, he didn't have to try and warn us about a trap." The small tan gargoyle answered. "I think the right personality is in control."

Goliath took the heavy chains and lock in his hands, and ripped the links apart with a grunt. Coldstone waited patiently as he pulled the chain out, before standing up. "Thank you, I feared you would be captured coming to my aid. I should have had more faith. Now, to deal with these two." With a soft whirring noise, the stone gargoyle walked over, and raised Demona and Ranma up by the back of their clothes.

"What are you going to do?" Broadway asked.

"Just－ this." Coldstone's voice turned sinister, and the jetpack attached to his back lit up, raising the trio off the floor. "Now." At the command, both gargoyles hanging from his hands woke up.

Goliath and his clan all gasped, shocked over being tricked. None of them had any time to react before thousands of volts of electricity ran through the floor and up their bodies. Screaming, the energy shot through their bodies, and caused all but Goliath to fall unconscious immediately. Collapsing to his knees, he watched Coldstone land, and Macbeth step out from one of the cells.

"Did I forget to mention Macbeth?" Coldstone asked hatefully before Goliath collapsed with the rest of his clan.

X x x x x x

Sighing tiredly, Elisa paced worriedly back and forth outside the clock face in the direction of Macbeth's mansion. "No note, nothing, if they're not back by sunrise, I'm not sure what I'm going to do." Yawning, she leaned heavily on the railing. "I need to get some sleep, but I can't leave without knowing they're safe." Rubbing at her eyes, a dark form caught her eye.

"Goliath?" She asked, since he was normally the first one back. Instead it was another male gargoyle who set down, a certain red haired blue skinned gargoyle who had knocked her out the previous day. "Ranma."

"Man that was cutting it close."

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Just a sec." As if on cue, the sun began to rise, and Ranma started to change. Wings and tail shrinking and disappearing, feet shortening into human ones, skin tone changing from light blue to a human shade of pink, and dozens of minor changes that completed the change to human. Elisa reached into her jacket and trained her pistol on the now human boy.

"I'm not going to be nice this time, you're under arrest, lay down on the ground with your hands on your head."

"Why would you want to do that?" He asked, adjusting his clothes slightly, and putting on a pair of leather boots that had been tied to his waist.

"Accessory to mass murder, illegal alien, and I'm sure there's a whole host of other things that I could charge you with."

"If you try and arrest me, you won't find out where Goliath is." Ranma didn't seem at all phased by her gun being pointed at him. Instead he was flexing his hands. "Honestly the weirdest thing is losing a finger, really throws you off."

Lowering her weapon, she put it back in her jacket. "Where is he?"

"Belvadere Castle in Central Park at noon."

"I got it. But why are you doing this?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you helping Demona? Kidnapping? This doesn't seem like you."

"It doesn't?" He said absently. "Oh well, see you later, I'm going to go get some breakfast." Ranma didn't wait for any kind of response, instead he practically skipped through the tower. Elisa couldn't do anything but watch him leave when they finally reached street level.

"We gotta stop meeting like this girl." A voice stopped her from watching the strange teen.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked the voice, finding it to be her friend Morgan.

"You're looking a little frayed around the edged girl, you sleeping?"

"Only a few hours in the last forty."

"Well, shifts over. Climb into bed, and pull it in after you."

"You don't know how much I'd like to. But when I woke up it'd be over for me. No more monsters, good or bad." She glanced at the retreating Ranma. "Just normal life."

"Normal life?" Morgan's hand came to rest on her shoulder. "It'd be nice."

"For a while, but they need me." As absurd as that sounded. Demona and Ranma had been able to defeat all of the Manhattan clan. What hope did she have against them by herself?

"Isn't that why you put on the badge."

"Yea, that's exactly why." Patting her friends arm she headed off for the parking garage. "Thanks Morgan." It wasn't exactly the reason, but it reminded her of her duty. All of them would die before leaving her, how could she have thought about leaving them?

X x x x x x

"I think I like Central Park in the day better." Ranma nodded to himself as he sat on a chest high wall that ran along the side of Belevedere Castle to stop people from approaching the edge. The structure was constructed on a large rock overlooking Turtle Pond, that transferred into a large grassy area filled with baseball fields.

"Night is better, less humans." Demona tried to correct him, she was leaning against the wall, with a silver rocket launcher next to her.

"I never dreamt I would see the sun." Coldstone stated. "Why haven't I turned to stone?"

"Because you are no longer a gargoyle." Demona explained. "Day or night, you are cold stone."

Coldstone approached a couple strolling past them, curious over their lack of reaction. "Why does no one see us?"

"It's enough that they don't, leave it be." Macbeth said gruffly.

Ranma watched the stone gargoyle stop and stare ahead blankly. 'Guess that red eye doesn't work very well for color, it's not hard to see the guys made of stone.' Coldstone also seemed a bit slow on the uptake, Goliath and his clan were all stone around them, each one shackled with his arms to his legs with a short chain, and then a longer one bound to their throats from each hand. Yet only now after about half an hour did Coldstone realize that no one was wondering why.

"She's here." Macbeth drew their attention, Elisa storming up to them from the south path. Elisa didn't stop to talk, instead she walked up to the Goliath statue, and checked to see if he had been hurt.

"You're brave human." Demona raised her rocket launcher and pointed it at the pair, which just so happened to be right next to where he was sitting. "But stupid."

"I'm unarmed." Elisa glanced in his direction and then Macbeth's.

Ranma looked back and forth between the two women. This was obviously a challenge between both of them. However with Demona's weapon there wasn't any chance for Elisa to even try to fight back. Not that he thought Elisa could win anyways, Demona didn't lose much from the change to human. While the odds were stacked against her, he supposed he could help a little bit.

"That was your first and last mistake." Demona sneered, and Ranma hopped off the wall to knock Demona's weapon to point upwards. "What?" She snapped.

"Big bad Demona afraid to fight a human?" He asked.

"Surely you're not afraid to face her, hand to hand?" Macbeth added.

"I fear no human!" Demona snarled and threw the weapon on the ground. "Come detective! Goliath can't save you now." The red haired woman crouched down as if to pounce.

"I'm here to save him." Elisa said calmly in response. "Someone has to be the hero."

Ranma frowned at that, watching Demona charge Elisa clumsily, and get her momentum redirected by Elisa to throw her to the stone walkway. As a martial artist, he was supposed to protect the weak, and Elisa certainly counted as weak to him. So why would he help put her in a no win situation like this? Demona certainly would kill her, eventually the gargoyle turned human would get her hands on Elisa, and it would be all over.

Just as he was thinking that, Demona was able to tackle Elisa to the floor, and the two started to wrestle. 'Guess Elisa is stronger than she looks.' Although the navy haired woman was barely able to hold Demona at bay.

"Well." Coldstone purred. "This is diverting."

"You don't know the half of it." Macbeth told the cyborg.

Ranma frowned even deeper, he didn't know Macbeth, but why was the elderly looking man helping Demona? Macbeth had every reason in the world to hate her. Coldstone was a mystery to him, but if he was Goliath's brother, why would he be trying to kill him? The more he thought about it, the less it made sense. How did Demona know how to reactivate him? Better yet, how had she known where to find the clock tower when he had never told her?

"No!" Coldstone suddenly shouted, clutching his head, and staggering around wildly. "I am besieged!" Dropping to one knee, the large stone gargoyle screamed, arcs of electricity flashing in the air around him.

Both Demona and Elisa stopped their fight to watch the cyborg, who after several tense seconds stopped screaming, and stood up straight. Now that the event had seemingly passed, the two women went back to their struggle.

"Are you alright?" Ranma asked.

"Give me a minute to access my memory banks." Coldstone answered, his voice noticeably different. Without warning, the cyborg punched both him and Macbeth. Sliding against the stone floor, they came to rest against the stone bodies of Hudson and Broadway.

'Crap he's got hard fists.' Ranma was instantly to his feet, and facing down the barrel of what looked like a laser cannon that had raised up from Coldstone's right forearm. The weapon shifted to the side and fired a single shot, knocking Macbeth's lightning gun from his hand.

"It seems your allegiance has shifted slightly." The Scotsman remained unphased by the show of force, and grabbed his collar to speak into a small microphone there. "Airship, priority one extraction." From behind the building, the gray hovercraft rose up, and hovered slowly over to their position. "Demona! Enough! Let's go lad." Macbeth tapped him on the shoulder and ran off for a ladder that dropped down from the underside of the ship.

Ranma gave one last look at Coldstone, and followed Macbeth to the ladder, before jumping upwards and catching it near the top. At the bottom, Macbeth helped Demona up on to the rope ladder before the ship moved out over the lake. 'Ugh, running away.' He shook his head, but climbed up into ship.

X x x x x x

"Because I did it your way, Elisa and the gargoyles are still alive!" Demona snarled.

Ranma idly used a pinkie to wipe some imaginary gunk from his ear. 'Demona sure can be loud when she wants too.' Standing off to the side, he let the two elders fight. All three of them were back in the main hall of Macbeth's mansion, a table having been brought in next to the a flight of steps. On the table sat the Grimorum Arcanorum, Eye of Odin, and the Phoenix Gate.

"Destroying them was never our primary objective." Macbeth said calmly.

"And we lost Coldstone!" Demona paused in her tirade. "What primary objective?"

"The Grimorum, Eye of Odin, and the Phoenix Gate." He supplied.

"Right, if we had stolen them alone, Goliath wouldn't have rested until he got them back." Macbeth added. "This way, it'll be weeks before he even notices they're gone."

"Yes." Demona seemed to be realizing something, and she picked up the Grimorum. "I used a spell from the Grimorum to shield us from prying eyes at the Clock Tower and the park." Macbeth seemed to notice something as well, briefly fighting with Demona over possession of the book. "But why did we steal these things? And how did we even know where to find them?"

"That's right, I never told you about the Clock Tower." He came up to stand next to the table.

"For that matter." Macbeth glared at both him and Demona hatefully. "Why are we working together?" Both his and Demona's eyes started to glow, and they shifted into fighting stances. Macbeth grabbed a chair and prepared to attack with it.

X x x x x x

"It seems we have arrived just in time my sisters." Seline commented, as she and her two siblings arrived in Macbeth's mansion in a swirl of wind. "The spell we placed on these three was about to wear off." The three mortals were frozen in place, preparing to attack each other. No longer hiding their forms, the three sisters appeared as the tall stately women they were, clad in soft blue and white gowns.

"You can only compel someone to act against their nature for so long." White haired Luna added.

"Was it wise to release Coldstone?" The black haired Seline asked.

"Perhaps we could have found a way to put a spell on him as well?" Blonde Phoebe suggested, picking up the Grimorum.

"We do not need Coldstone." Luna spoke and picked up the Phoenix Gate. Seline grabbed the Eye of Odin gingerly in her hands. "These will do quite nicely in the coming battle."

"We will have to be careful with this one." Seline indicated the young red haired boy.

"Indeed, someone has been tampering with our work, in more than one way." Luna motioned towards Demona.

"Puck, no doubt, and he may try again." Phoebe spoke.

"It will not matter, the insufferable one will not be able to interfere from here on." Seline amended. Raising the three magical items above their heads. Around them, wind swirled and enveloped their all six forms, and in a flash, they were all gone.

X x x x x x

Author Notes:

(1) – See chapter 2, Goliath's description of punishments. For those too lazy, it's banishment. Demona is the one exception of a gargoyle who has lived long stretches of time alone. But throughout the series she makes several attempts to create a new clan. Ranma, who is not mentally prepared for it, and even in the manga appears to be bothered whenever he is. So I think it can be forgiven that he's off mentally.

Timeline

Nov 11th – Ranma returns to Japan through the Phoenix Gate, and departs shortly after once he realizes that Puck has left him a gift. Later after sundown, as Xanatos starts to put his plan into action with Goliath, Ranma and Demona are reunited. Tricked by Demona, Ranma doesn't warn the others, and she is able to change the countdown timer, which if left unchecked would have killed Xanatos and the Manhattan clan.

Nov 12th – An all out brawl breaks out between Demona, Ranma, and Macbeth. Their fight ends up destroying a significant portion of the castle's foundation, and ends with the Weird Sisters collecting the trio in front of Goliath. Xanatos' plan to break the spell succeeds and the humans, as well as Thailog, are free of the curse.

Nov 13th – During the night, the trio taken by the Weird Sisters, awaken and are magically compelled to steal Coldstone, Eye of Odin, Phoenix Gate, and the Grimorum Arcanorum. Ranma and Demona are easily able to subdue Elisa in the morning, and take their targets with Macbeth's help, back to his mansion. There, Coldstone is awakened, and the Manhattan clan is later captured.

Nov 14th – Ranma returns to the Clock Tower and informs Elisa where to find Manhattan clan. At Beleveder Castle at noon she confronts the four captors and gets into a fist fight with Demona. One of the good personalities in Coldstone is able to take over, and he turns the tide on the other three. Elisa is saved, and the trio flee back to Macbeth's mansion. While discussing what has happened the trio briefly free themselves from the Weird Sisters control, only to be swept away along with the three magical items, and put under a stronger spell.


	6. The Archmage

"Speech"  
'Thought'  
(Language the current character does not know or is not fluent in)

This will likely be the last chapter in the general section before I switch it over to the crossover section. And I am really underwhelmed by the amount of reviews the last chapter got, I'm hoping this one will do better.

There's lots of time travel, thankfully far less than chapter 3, still pay attention.

X x x x x x

December 24th, 1995

"Good, now take the Phoenix Gate, you must go back and fulfill my part in the time stream." His counterpart commanded and he nodded in understanding. Taking the Phoenix Gate from the last of the weird sisters, and attaching it to his chest.

"Are you sure you know what to do?" His elder asked.

"I should, I watched you do it." He placed a hand to the Gate, briefly surrounding himself by flame, and appeared in a cave.

March 8th, 984

Stepping forward, he peaked around a stalagmite, and found his old weak self battle three gargoyles. The three fighting his former self were his old apprentice, Goliath, and the leader of the clan.

"Fulmenos venite!" Lightning shot from the younger Archmage's fingertip, impacting the stalagmite in front of the gargoyle leader, and knocking him backwards through several more.

'He starts out well enough.' He commented, watching more lightning shoot after the other two gargoyles. One of his shots even managing to knock down his old apprentice.

'But he lacks control.' Goliath dodged the Archmage's attacks and knocked the Grimorum from his hands, sending the book down into a chasm. Since the trio of beasts had needed to get the book, the fool Goliath dove in after it.

'Especially that temper.' He watched as his counterpart charged Goliath and his old apprentice after retrieving the book, a small sharp stone his only weapon.

"Filthy beast! Give it to me!"

It was pathetic watching himself tumble over the edge, the gargoyles having easily avoided an elderly humans attack. 'I have so much to teach him.' Shaking his head sadly, he activated the Phoenix Gate and transported himself to a small platform of rock down in the chasm. 'Fortunately I have nothing but time.'

Stretching out his left hand, he gave a simple command through the Eye of Odin. "Halt." His counterpart stopped in his fall, sniveling, and looking around nervously.

"Oh stop your whimpering and show some dignity, can't you?" He berated the man, and directed him to come rest on the outcropping.

"Who are you?" The weaker Archmage asked.

"Patience." He commanded, activating the Phoenix Gate.

X x x x x x

September 28th, 995

Upon a large ship, anchored magically to the border of Avalon and the mortal world, the weird sisters remained vigilant in their task of protecting the island. Earlier in the year, Oberon had banished all of his children from the fair isle, and had give them this task. One thousand years they were to watch over the entrance, but what was time to an immortal?

So far, no immortal or mortal had attempted to reach Avalon, but that had changed this night. The three sisters stood in a line aboard their temporary home, arms raised in warding to the trio of incoming boats. On the first was a man, none on the second, and on the third, an old woman, two younger women, and a small boy. Underneath some blankets were dozens of gargoyle eggs.

"Stand aside and let us pass!" A white haired human demanded, and all three of them realized that he was a Magus, the stench of human magic coming from him, and he also was in possession of the Grimorum Arcanorum.

"You know better than that Magus." Phoebe warned him of his bad manners.

"Oberon has deemed us guardians of his island." Seline explained.

"No magics may enter here, save Avalon's own." Luna finished, crossing her arms in front of her.

"You cannot make us go back or the Princess may die!" The young blond boy yelled at them. "The eggs could die!"

"You screech like barn owls." Phoebe replied and raised her arms along with her sisters.

"Meaningless chatter of meaningless lives." Seline spoke, green magic surrounding them, and causing them to grow several times in height, making them tower over the mortals. A great wind swirled around them, the sea heaved, and the last of the boats snapped free from the others and spun wildly out of control.

"So owls, you shall be." Luna commanded as their power was fully gathered, their forms now many times as tall as their boat. Throwing their hands forward, a green wave of magic carrying their curse shot towards the magus.

The Magus raised the Grimorum to shield himself. "Per usum meum dira te rectus volutare" On the mortals command their spell was reversed, shooting from his hand and striking them. In a flash of blue light, their magic was cut off, and they had all become large owls.

Cawing angrily, they dove down to attack the Magus physically. The human pulled an oar up from the boat, and beat them back with it. Realizing that they could do nothing to stop the humans now, the three flew back towards their large ship and came down to rest on the cabin. Screeching angrily, they could do nothing but watch the mortals head off to Avalon.

New magic stopped their protests, and a tall older human with with Eye of Odin on the center of his forehead, and the Phoenix Gate on his chest, levitated to land on their barge along with another older human in dirty gray clothes. The one with magical items bound to him, had a long black cloak, and golden arm braces. His white beard was trimmed neatly in a horizontal line

"Revert." He waved a hand, and in a puff of feathers, they had returned into their preferred forms.

"Oberon will not be pleased." Phoebe summarized their lords response to their failure.

"He entrusted us to guard the gates of Avalon." Seline explained for this new human's benefit.

"And now we are banished from that fair isle by a magicians parlor tricks." Luna snarled.

"Might I suggest, an alliance?" The powerful human offered, the sniveling elder behind him, visibly lost with the events around him.

"We make no pacts with sorcerers!" Seline answered.

"Not even if I can promise you revenge against these mortals?"

All three of them paused, deliberating their options. Oberon's decree magically forbade them from chasing down the mortals on Avalon. They were not even allowed to directly effect them, even if they could reach Avalon. However, this human was under no such restrictions, and Oberon would not be pleased to see mortals infesting Avalon when he returned.

"We are listening." Phoebe spoke.

"It will take some time." The sorcerer warned.

"What is time, to an immortal?" Luna asked.

"Then I will see you again in twenty five years, and soon we will all have our vengeance." Raising a hand to his chest, the Phoenix Gate's fire surrounded the mortals and they were gone.

X x x x x x

September 28th, 1020 Scotland

The Archmage arrived with his past self in a wheat field in Scotland. The fool fumbling to find himself as they made another trip through time. If he wasn't required to do this he would have simply left his past self to die after he had fallen into a pit, while trying to kill Goliath and his mate back in the year nine eighty four. Such an inept plan, whatever had he been thinking in trying to kill Prince Malcolm?

"Where are we now?" The fool in gray clothing asked.

"For the last time, it's when, not where." He corrected. "Try to keep up." Paying no more heed to the man, he strode confidently towards a grain store. The night was foggy, and it was hard to see far, but he knew from experience where he needed to go. "The year is ten twenty."

They had front row seats for a small clan of gargoyles attacking the guards of the store. Most noticeable was the red haired gargoyle wielding a spiked mace as she struck down several guards with ease.

"These cannot be more allies, that female gargoyle once served as my apprentice, she betrayed me!" His younger self pulled on his sleeve.

"She is not an ally, she is cannon fodder. The first of the warriors we will need." He patiently explained. "Trust me, we're not doing her any favors."

A white mist gathered in front of them, coalescing into three female forms, in long light blue dresses. The same three sisters that he had helped twenty five years earlier.

"I was wondering when you would arrive. Come, we still have much to see tonight. For that we will use the Gate." He waited for the trio to come close to him. They were far more intelligent than his younger self, they knew not to ask questions.

Using the Gate, they all appeared atop Castle Moray. His younger self immediately peaking over the battlements to see the High Steward of Moray training his son Macbeth, in the use of the sword. "Don't tell me this young pup is another recruit."

"Macbeth will become a great warrior, if he survives to manhood." Turning to the waiting members of the Third Race, he raised his hands palm up and created two small illusions of blue flame, of the human and gargoyle he had just pointed out, though each were as they would appear years later. The magical flame directed his master plan to the three sisters, making words unnecessary. "Protect these two, guide their courses. A third waits in the passage of time, and I will meet you in nine hundred sixty five years to show you who."

"Archmage, have you forgotten? Oberon's law magically forbids us from directly interfering in human events." The white haired sister explained.

"The law that cannot be broken, can surely be bent." He answered without a care.

"This is true." The blonde smiled, followed shortly by her sisters.

Stepping away from the trio, he motioned for his younger self to come close. "Watch for the Grimorum, Eye of Odin, and the Phoenix Gate."

"But you already have the Eye and the Gate?" The black haired sister questioned.

Laughing darkly, he wondered just how intelligent the trio were. "But I did not have them until you three brought them to me."

X x x x x x

June 15th, 1985

Appearing in a roadway, the Archmage, allowed his younger self to examine the part of the world they were now in. The trees had a different look to the Scottish ones, the housing styles were much different, and the writing and some street signs, were impossible to decipher for his younger self. Even the people and clothing were different.

"Where, I mean when, are we?"

"The time is nineteen eighty five, a place half the world away, Osaka, Japan."

"Japan?"

"You're grasp of the world is so puny. It is an island on the other side of Asia."

"So why are we here?"

"Our last recruit." Pointing a hand towards a small cart, a young boy ran up and quickly beat up another. In reward for the action, the young boy was given a small round food item, and happily ate it while sitting on his downed opponent.

"Tell me it isn't that child that is happily eating dirt?"

"No, this young lad will grow up to possess skills the other two cannot gain. Magic that is not magic." He answered, watching as the three sisters appeared before him once again. "This is our last recruit." Holding out his hand, he produced another illusion of the boy in his late teens, wearing a bright red shirt and black pants. "I will have to retrieve him from the future after everything is said and done, but with the Gate, there will be no problem."

The trio of sisters nodded, and dissolved into mist before vanishing. Raising a hand to lightly touch the Phoenix Gate, he transported himself and the younger Archmage, back to the barge positioned outside of Avalon.

X x x x x x

December 24th, 1995

For the last time, the Archmage transported himself as well as his younger person, to the barge at waiting between Avalon and the mortal world. Everything was going according to how he remembered it. All that remained was for the three sisters to bring his younger self the three magical items, and then he could start the removal of those living on Avalon.

"Soon the sisters will return, bringing you the talismans, with it the ultimate power that you have always dream of. But what will you do with it?" He asked the nonenhanced Archmage.

"I haven't thought that far in advance." The man with the long beard down to his waist stuttered. "Perhaps I'll conquer Scotland!"

"Only Scotland?" He laughed. "With so much power, you can conquer the world!" Spreading his arms out over his head, he wondered if he had ever been this slow. Seeing the smile spread over his younger selfs face, he thought it wise to give a warning. "Keep in mind, the world has become a place of science, not sorcery, and weapons today are as potent as any magic."

Walking around the back of the other Archmage, he lowered his voice. "You'll need a safe place in which to launch your attacks. A place your enemies cannot reach, think." He commanded.

"Avalon!" His younger self said after a moments thought.

"Finally you're catching on. And fortunately, the island is abandoned save for a few humans and gargoyles."

"Then they must die!"

"Exactly!" A cruel smile spread across both of their faces, the three sisters choosing that moment to appear across the barge from them. "Give him the Eye of Odin." He told the one holding the magical item. His younger self snatching it eagerly from her grasp.

Taking his younger selfs head between his hands, he channeled his magic with knowledge from the Grimorum, and created a skintight gray helm that would channel and focus the magic. His younger self raised the Eye of Odin, which glowed, and suddenly stuck to his forehead. Shielding even his own eyes from the explosion of power, the magical energies transformed his younger self's form.

He became taller, muscular, his aging was reversed, long hair was cropped short, and his clothing changed to that of his own, a long black cloak, split between the front and back. The clothing underneath, becoming black, his shirt draping down in front and back, bound at the waist by a belt with a snake head striking as the buckle, and two large gold bracers extending from his hands to elbows.

"Now you have power, but you lack the knowledge to use it." He explained as his much changed self rose up from the ground. "Give him the Grimorum Arcanorum."

"Are you mad?" The black haired sister questioned. "The Eye and the Gate were forged on the island. But the Grimorum is full of human spells!"

"By Oberon's law, no magics may enter here, save Avalon's own." The white hair one added.

"You mean we went through all that trouble to get the Grimorum." His other self asked angrily, snatching the book away from the blonde sister. "And now I can't even take it in with me? What am I suppose to do? Eat it?"

"You are learning." He purred and the eyes of his other widened for a moment, before a look of understanding swept over it.

White arcs of magic encircled the book, and the other Archmage raised it to his mouth, and then forcibly shoved it in. The book made a loud grinding noise as it resisted the devouring of it's power, but in the end, it was no match or the power of the Eye of Odin.

"Now I understand, we bend the law, without breaking it. The Grimorum is a part of me, and goes where I go."

"Good, now take the Phoenix Gate, you must go back and fulfill my part in the time stream."

The other Archmage nodded in understanding, taking the Phoenix Gate from the last sister, and attaching it to his chest.

"Are you sure you know what to do?" He asked.

"I should, I watched you do it." The other Archmage replied with a smile, vanishing in a ball of flame.

"Now that that nuisance is out of the way, we can go to victory." He announced, this was the day he had been waiting for.

"But what of the Sleeping King?" The white haired sister asked.

"You mean he exists? I believed him just a legend."

"All things are true." The black haired one told him. "The King is on the island, asleep in his hallow hill."

"Be warned, his power is great." The blonde added.

"Then once we've taken the island, we'll just have to make sure he never wakes up." Raising a hand up to the Phoenix Gate, he prepared to retrieve the last of his soldiers, when he noticed that there were three forms behind the sisters, and not two. "What is this?" He demanded, parting them, and storming up to the two gargoyles and human. "Why is there another gargoyle here?"

"The plan had to change." The black haired one told him.

"An interloper has placed a spell on these two." The blonde explained.

"We could break it, but the damage to the plan was already done." The white haired one added.

"And as a gargoyle he can still serve our needs." The black haired one finished.

"I suppose that is true." He scratched his chin in thought. "The abilities he would have picked up in the future would have been useful, but I suppose another gargoyle will have to do. Go, let us announce our presence to the deceased." He waved a hand, and in a plume of green smoke, the six soldiers he had acquired vanished. A moment later, he followed with the Phoenix Gate, laughing maniacally.

X x x x x x

December 27th

Goliath sat patiently in Hudson's usual chair, with one leg crossed over the other, and Bronx laying down against the chair to his right. In his hands was the book he had been intent on finishing this night. For the past few nights, ever since Hudson had been kidnapped by Xanatos in a failed attempt to gain immortality, it had been quiet and peaceful out.

"And he asked for you by name." Elisa finished recounting the tale of how an older human wearing full medieval armor, had been taken into custody after fighting off a trio of thugs.

"I know of no－ guardian."

"Well he seems to know you, which means we have to find out what else he knows."

"Agreed, but we cannot bring him here."

"And I can't bring you to him. So－ I'll just have to get him out of that cell. How about Belvedere Castle, in about an hour?" Elisa asked and Bronx immediately perked up.

"I'll be there." Standing up, Bronx sat on his haunches begging. "Yes, this time you can come." He told the ecstatic gargoyle beast, who immediately took off running up and down the steps. As soon as Elisa left to go release the human from custody, he sat back down and opened up his book. "But－ not right now."

An hour later, Goliath with Bronx loaded in his arms, was flying over Central Park, the green forest having turned white from the snow. Slowly coming down to rest at Beleveder Castle, he found Elisa waiting. Bronx didn't wait till he had reached the ground, barking excitedly at the human member of his clan. Next to Elisa was a taller human, who was dressed in the full armor of a knight, his face obscured by a mask, and a cape around his shoulders reminding him of a gargoyles wings.

"Goliath, I cannot believe it is you!" The man exclaimed excitedly in a heavy Scottish accent. "Finally! Here in the flesh!" Raising up the face shield on his helmet, Goliath didn't recognize the man. "You know that last time I saw you was－ the worst night of my life." Bronx didn't seem concerned, taking several sniffs, the gargoyle beast excitedly barked, and received an affectionate petting from the strange man. "Good boy there."

Sharing a confused glance with Elisa, he addressed the man. "I do not know you."

"But I know you, and I also know of Princess Katharine, the Magus, and the gargoyle eggs."

"Who are you?" He demanded.

Pulling off his helmet fully, revealed a shock of dark blond hair. "It's me, Tom, I was but a lad at Castle Wyvern. The night that the Vikings destroyed your clan. But there's no time to explain." Too shocked to react, Goliath allowed the man to grab his arm and start pulling him in the direction of the lake. "The eggs are in danger."

Gasping, he pulled his arm free. "The eggs? You mean the ones from the rookery?"

"Of course, but come, we must get back before sunrise." Replacing his helmet, the elderly man ran off in the direction of the lake. Chasing after him with Elisa and Bronx, they arrived at the lake, where a long skiff was waiting. The lake wasn't yet frozen over, and it seemed a path had opened up just for this boat to pass freely.

"Where did that boat come from?" Elisa asked.

"Please." Tom begged, motioning for them to get in. Bronx, ever curious, hopped up on the side and sniffed at the skiff.

"Who is this guy?" Elisa whispered to him.

"Tom was a friend to my clan when friends were all too few. If this is actually Tom." He trailed off, watching Bronx be petted by the human. The gargoyle beast was friendly to those he viewed as good people, but with the way he was carrying on, it was like this old man was an old friend.

"Bronx seems to like him." Elisa caught on to what he was thinking.

"Come, or the Archmage will destroy the eggs." Tom motioned again for them to get in the boat.

"The Archmage?" He asked. "But how?" Grabbing Bronx, he hefted the guard dog into the boat. "I will go with you." The only way for this man to know about such things was if he was actually from a thousand years ago.

"Go where? The other side of the lake?" Elisa asked with disbelief. "Hey wait for me!" She called and hopped into the boat. Passengers inside, Tom pushed off with an oar and started to direct them out into the lake.

As they neared more open water, Tom began to speak in latin. "Vocate venti fortunate, ex rege Oberonis, et hic navis flugem regate, ad orae Avalonis." A fog bank surrounded them, obscuring the shore and city around them.

"If you're from Goliath's time, how did you get here?" Elisa asked the question on his mind.

"That story begins a long time ago. Back in nine ninety four, after I, the Princess, the Magus, and my mother left the castle with the eggs. We journeyed to the Princess' uncle Kenneth's kingdom. But even there we were not safe. The politics of the land seemed to conspire against us. Princess Katherine did her best to keep the eggs safe, doting on them as much as she could."

"When it became obvious that the eggs would soon be destroyed, the Magus directed us on our path to Avalon. We reached Avalon safely enough, the Magus wasn't able to bring the Grimorum with him though. So my mother and another who had helped us flee, took the Grimorum to stop anyone from following us." Tears streamed down the humans face, remembering a painful memory.

"I owe you my thanks." Goliath told Tom, knowing that there was more to the tale.

"You didn't really say how you could have lived back then, and still be here." Elisa asked.

"Time passes differently on Avalon, for every hour spent there, a day passes by in the real world. I returned every one hundred years to see if you had awakened Goliath."

"You spoke of the Archmage." He glanced around at the fog, wondering when they would reach the other side of the lake. "But he died long before you were born."

"Never the less, he lays siege to Avalon."

"We will help you in whatever way we can." He offered.

Bronx started to bark and ran to the front of the skiff, leaning over the side and barking off into the fog. As if sensing his calls, the fog separated, revealing that they were no long in Manhattan, but outside of a large island. Both he and Elisa gasped, feeling decidedly out of place. To the right on a beach was a tall and strangely modeled light house, on the left was a large cliff face, a bonfire burning brightly at the top.

"Where are we?" Elisa asked, removing her thick coat and placing it into the skiff. It seemed that they had come across a land in the middle of summer.

"This is Avalon." Tom said again.

Bronx left the skiff before it had even stopped on the beach, running around and barking excitedly. Goliath waited to get off, and helped Elisa when she did. "Bronx likes it here." She commented.

"It looks like he's found the eggs." Tom pointed to the cliff.

"Where?" He asked confused, how could there be eggs waiting for them? Up on the cliff, three free forms were silhouetted by the moon. Goliath's breath caught, there was a female gargoyle, a male, and then a beast. 'The children survived.' He thought happily, watching them circle down to meet them.

The female landed first, rushing forward to embrace Tom. "Guardian! Welcome home." She greeted.

"These are the eggs?" Elisa asked.

"Sorry, I've always called them that." Tom explained, crouching to pet the beast as it came up to him. Bronx coming up to meet the other beast. Catching the hopeful stare from the female, Goliath turned to her.

"Are you Goliath?" She asked, and he nodded. "We've heard so much about you. This is like a dream come true!"

"Goliath, Elisa, this is Angela." Tom introduced them.

"You've given them names?" He asked, wondering how many other human customs the gargoyle children had been raised under. As grateful as he was to see them alive and well, how much of the gargoyle way was lost on them?

"Of course, how else could we tell each other apart?" Angela said as if it was most stupid question in the world.

"We should get back to the castle." The male interrupted.

"Gabriel's right." Angela agreed. "It could be dangerous here."

X x x x x x

The Archmage lounged on a padded bed, watching Goliath arrive on Avalon through a pool he had turned into a viewing pond. Sitting along the edge of the pool were the three sisters. Macbeth stood on the opposite side of him, fiddling with his pistol, and the two gargoyles were on some steps to the right of the weird sisters. The male curled up on railing running across the top of the steps like a cat, while his old apprentice was further down, playing with her laser rifle.

The grotto was beside a large lake, across the lake sat Oberon's palace, a truly impressive castle that dominated the landscape. 'This place was truly beautiful, a fitting place from which to conquer the world from.' Gazing on the castle, he couldn't wait to take it as his new home. The few humans remaining in the world capable of finding the isle, would not have the strength to contest him.

"Not so fast Goliath." He waved a hand, sending ripples throughout the pond. "You still need to play in the sand." Laughing to himself, he watched as sand versions of himself rose up from the beach, and started to attack the group. Just when they thought they were winning, he commanded the sand to become stone, and then explode, showering them with the fragments.

"Congratulations Goliath, you beat up a beach." On the other side of the grotto, the gargoyle who was supposed to be a human, growled at him, glaring angrily with white eyes. "Quiet beast." He commanded, exerting his control of the gargoyle, making him lay his head back down quietly. 'Worthless Fae, I wonder how many other tasks they failed at.' He simmered, shifting his eyes to glare at the sisters kneeling next to the pool.

X x x x x x

With Angela and Gabriel circling overhead, Elisa followed Tom with Goliath protectively at her side. She could tell the big gargoyle was bothered by the Archmage being alive, and how helpless they had been against his magic, but there was also something else. Goliath's eyes kept glancing upwards at the gargoyles worriedly. However, what he was thinking, was lost to her.

Exiting the woods, Tom stopped, and let them go first. At first she didn't notice it, but when her eyes followed the path upwards, they widened in shock. Framed by two tall mountains, sat a castle several times the size of Castle Wyvern, with several gargoyles clearly visible on the battlements.

"Wow." She breathed, feeling like she had been transported back through time.

"Unfortunately we have not the time to enjoy Avalon's beauty." Tom passed them by, and started the long trek up the steps.

About halfway up the steps, Gabriel landed, followed shortly by Angela, and the two walked with them. When they finally reached the castle itself, Elisa could see a dozen or so gargoyles watching their every movement. 'This is so strange. Here we thought that Goliath's clan was the last, and now that numbers already doubled.' Not as strange as the number, but how many were beaten, and bandaged up.

"How many are wounded?" Goliath asked.

"Too many, we weren't prepared for battle." Angela answered angrily.

"Before tonight, there was never a need to hone our combat skills." Gabriel explained as Tom pushed open a door twice the height of Goliath, allowing them to enter into a vast room.

Glancing upwards she saw that the room had a high vaulted ceiling, taller than the inside of the Clock Tower. All but the floor was done in a tan stone like the outside of the castle. She was the only one to not immediately head in towards the two humans tending beds. The entire place looked like a field hospital in some war movie. Nine wooden tables had been converted into beds, each with a body resting on it.

"Tom!" An elderly gray haired woman cried happily, wearing a long blue dress, with a red cape draped over her shoulders. "I've prayed for your safe return." The woman moved forward quickly to embrace Tom. Elisa didn't miss how the other human, a man with long white hair, and clothing that matched, looked away sadly at the sight. Considering the story she had heard on the way here, Elisa assumed that he was the Magus.

"Princess!" Goliath said in awe.

"Goliath? Oh Tom, you found him!" Stepping away from Tom, the Princess approached Goliath. "This is more than I'd hoped for."

"And the way you've guarded our children, is more than I dreamed of." Goliath bowed his head down. "I am glad to be here." On the nearby bed, a green skinned female gargoyle moaned, shifting the blanket off of her.

"I only wish that times were equally glad." The Princess moved over, and gently raised the sheet to cover the gargoyle.

"Laser burns!" Goliath roared, his eyes lighting up. "Tell us what happened."

"You have to understand." The white bearded man started, drawing everyones attention, and crumbling some kind of plant into a basin. "Since we arrived upon the island, all those years ago, Avalon has been completely deserted, except for the Sleeping King of course." Dipping a wash cloth in the basin, he ringed it out, and gently applied it to the laser burn on the females wing. "The Weird Sisters lead the charge against us, along with three warriors armed with magical weapons."

"One was a gray bearded human, another was a female gargoyle that we once knew as your second in command." Tom explained.

"Demona?" Goliath asked, interupting Tom.

"And the third was a young gargoyle who looked very much like your former second. It was he who caused most of the injuries here. Without any visible weapon he was able to strike from afar with magic."

"And I bet that the other two are Macbeth and Ranma." Elisa chimed in.

"You know our attackers?" The Magus asked.

"Yes but they hate each other, well maybe not Demona and Ranma, but they definitely don't like Macbeth." She explained.

"We saw no sign of that." Tom shrugged.

"The Weird Sisters must have been using them all along. Who knows how long they've been under their control." Goliath started pacing worriedly.

"My old master, the Archmage, calls the dance. I have seen the Eye of Odin upon his brow. It has clearly transformed him into a more powerful sorcerer." The Magus explained. "He also carries the Phoenix Gate, with that, he can traverse space or time with a thought. And if I did not know the Grimorum couldn't be brought upon Avalon, I would say he had that as well."

"Which explains a lot." Elisa stopped the Magus. "They must have stolen them from you when they were under a spell."

"And the Sisters must have given the talismans to the Archmage." Goliath finished for her.

"All I know, is that he didn't need to raise a hand, the three warriors you know, were enough to do the job for him." Toms aid gravely.

X x x x x x

"Come here beast."

Ranma raised his head up from his hands, and seeing the Archmage's hand motioning to him, hopped off the railing and briskly walked over to the human on all fours. Stopping near the large viewing pool, the Archmage waved a hand, changing the image to that of three gargoyles, two male and one female, running through the woods.

"I have plans for Goliath, the other two are worthless to me, kill them." The Archmages eyes glowed white, and Ranma nodded his head, accepting the command without question.

Bounding off into the woods, Ranma knew the direction in which to go. Stealthily stalking through the woods, he had to freeze, and hide in some bushes when he crossed Goliath's path. While his orders were to kill the other two, Goliath wasn't supposed to be hurt by him. Once the large lavender gargoyle had past, he headed off in the direction Goliath had come.

Purring to himself, he found his prey looking through some bushes, and completely unaware of his presence. Stopping, he pouted, this wasn't any fun, how could he enjoy himself if his prey was this weak?

"Meow!" He cried angrily, causing the duo to jump in shock. That was better, the prey was as ready as they could be for him. Raising a paw, he flexed his claws, enjoying their terror. He had played with this prey earlier in the night, they wouldn't last long, but they would occupy his mind for a time.

Before he could play with them, he was struck from the side, and with a graceful twist in the air, he landed back on all fours, hissing at his attacker. Goliath it seemed, had come to interfere, standing between him and his prey. Switching to a growl, he slowly circled to get a clear path to his prey.

"Ranma, please, the Archmage is using you." Goliath pleaded with him. "This isn't you, break free of the spell he's placed on you."

Stopping his forward movement, Ranma's eyes softened, his completely white eyes, magically lacking an iris and pupil, darted from Goliath to his prey. He did feel funny about hunting these two. They certainly didn't look like they would taste good. In fact, they looked like they might be fun to play with, in a more friendly way. Perhaps once he asserted his dominance over the other male, they could be friends?

However a strong voice urged him to kill the two, a voice he couldn't resist. Seeing the other male step out from behind Goliath, he slashed his hand towards the gargoyle. The bushes behind the three exploded, and along the ground up to him, three deep grooves converged at his talons. Growling over missing his target, he launched himself at a tree to the side, rebounding to come around the side of Goliath, he landed on the ground and pounced at the other male.

Throwing out his claws, the other male reacted too slowly, his right wing being caught by his attack, and the material was shredded with three long tears. Landing, he slashed at the female, who was able to avoid his attack. The tree behind her was not so lucky, toppling over, and crashing to the ground.

Seeing Goliath attempt to attack him, Ranma slashed the ground in front of the bigger gargoyle. A cloud of dirt obscured Goliath from his vision, and Ranma took advantage of it, pouncing on the shocked female and pinning her to the ground. Snarling, he raised a paw to end her life.

Except he didn't, seeing the terrified look on her face, he slowly lowered his paw, and hopped off of her to sit on his haunches off to the side. Why was he attacking this female? Cocking his head to one side, he studied her as she slowly moved away from him. Giving off a long plaintive meow, he wanted to know what was going on, and where he was.

X x x x x x

Goliath was in a word, surprised, by the sudden change in Ranma's temperament. Before he had been prowling like a wild animal, but now he was crying like Elisa's house cat Cagney. Trying not to upset the mentally disturbed boy, he slowly moved around to Gabriel's side, and inspected his wing. The three tears weren't tears at all, instead they looked like they had been cut by an incredibly sharp knife.

"What sorcery is this?" He asked, getting in front of Gabriel and Ranma. The human turned gargoyle's response was another confused and sad meow.

"Goliath, what's going on? Why is he acting like this?" Angela asked him, carefully moving away from Ranma. "Not that I mind him letting me keep my head."

"I'm not sure, I've never seen him like this." Goliath replied, carefully stepping towards Ranma, the boy remaining in place, and giving off an anguished cry. "Ranma?" He asked, now several paces away from the boy, who stared back at him without comprehension, his eyes having returned to normal.

"What a disappointment this has turned out to be." The Archmage's voice echoed around them, and in a bright flash of light, the human appeared behind Ranma. The mentally disturbed boy spun and arched his back, snarling angrily at the Archmage. "I knew I shouldn't have put so much trust in those sisters to prepare him properly. No matter, he can be replaced." Raising his hands, the Archmage pointed his palms at Ranma.

"No!" Goliath shouted, watching white magical energy gather between the Archmage's hands. Ranma didn't wait, jumping forward, and bringing his hand down and through the energy. The Archmage screamed and fell backwards, three long slash marks running from his chest to his waist. The Phoenix Gate clattering to the ground, cut into four pieces by Ranma's attack.

For several seconds, Goliath stared at the Archmage, as he stood up and clutched his chest. To either side of the sorcerer, green mist formed out of the air, turning into the forms of Demona and Macbeth, laser rifle and lightning pistol in their hands. "Angela, help Gabriel back to the castle." Goliath commanded knowing that the plan had failed. Angela nodded, and supporting Gabriel, started to run in the direction they had came.

"Ranma, come back with us!" He yelled to the boy, backing away from the invading trio. Said boy turned to look at him quizzically, nearly missing both Demona and Macbeth shooting their weapons at him. Nimbly hopping out of the way, Ranma hissed angrily at the pair, before running in Goliath's direction.

"I generously allowed them to live until dawn! But if you are all so eager to die, then so be it!" The Archmage called after them.

X x x x x x

At the base of the hill, on the other side from Oberon's palace, Elisa and the Magus arrived at a cave next to a waterfall. They were here to try and wake the Sleeping King. Elisa had also learned as they walked, on the events that had happened since the three humans had arrived on the island. Such as how the Magus, who loved the Princess, had to watch her grow close to, and eventually marry Tom.

The Magus had remained, even after losing his chance with the Princess, out of remorse for what he had done to Goliath and his clan. Apparently he had dedicated his life to taking care of the children, and would try to protect them from the Archmage with his life.

"This is it." The medieval wizard announced.

"This?" She asked, looking through the tall trapezoid shaped door. Inside was a long cave filled with stalactites, and an uneven rocky walls. The only thing about it that looked man made was the perfectly flat floor."I was expecting something－ grander." Deep within the cave though, a soft light white illuminated their way.

Once they reached the light, Elisa had to revise her opinion. The cave opened up into a vast circular room, the ceiling of which seemed to reach the top of the mountain, with white light streaming from above on to a sleeping figure on the far side, atop a tall white bier. Around the room were figures of knights carved directly into stone, and above each statue, heraldic images were carved.

The only way to reach the other side was a white marble walkway, that if you fell from, would plunge you down into a deep chasm. At the front of the bridge, two stone gargoyle figures sat on pedestals, and across the way, two iron suits of armor stood against the bier.

"I take back what I said." She apologized.

X x x x x x

"Goliath why have you brought HIM here?"

Goliath sighed at the Princess' question, glancing down at Ranma, who was sniffing at the large set of double doors at the entrance to the makeshift infirmary. As soon as they had gotten away from the Archmage, Ranma had seemed to forget they were even in danger, and continually tried to get Goliath and his party to play with him. The situation was frustrating beyond belief, how could someone with so much power in his hands, be so childish?

"I'm not sure what the Archmage has done to him, but it appears the spell controlling him has been broken." He explained, shutting the doors behind him.

"Mew!" Ranma suddenly bounded over to a fire burning in the center of the room, the assembled group of gargoyles and the lone human retreated away from the boy. Ranma however, paid them no mind, and spinning in place several times, laid down next to the fire. Both of the gargoyle beasts, Bronx and a new one named Boudicca, nearby seemed unconcerned by Ranma's presence, and that told Goliath all he needed to know.

"At least he seems friendly enough, so long as you don't make any menacing moves." Angela added, helping Gabriel find a place to sit down. "When the Archmage tried to attack, he cut the Phoenix Gate into pieces, and injured him."

"Yes, the Archmage has been severely weakened by the loss of Ranma, and the Phoenix Gate." He theorized. "Unless he figures out that the Gate can be recombined, this should limit him to purely power from the Eye of Odin."

The Princess continued to glare murder at Ranma, but went to Gabriel's side to start bandaging up his wing. "I still don't trust that he will not attack us."

"Has Elisa not returned?" He asked, finding no sign of the human.

"No not yet, but with the herbs prepared by the Magus, most of the children have been healed enough so that if it comes down to it, they can flee." The Princess replied sadly. "Angela!" The elderly woman suddenly yelled. "What are you doing? Get away from him!"

Angela had knelt down next to Ranma, who had perked his head up and was looking at her. "I really don't think he means us any harm Princess. He seemed like he was lost and scared earlier."

"I do not care, he's dangerous." The Princess said angrily, and Goliath shook his head.

"Princess, please do not judge Ranma by his actions earlier, if his mind was not fractured as it is, I know that he would wish to help us." He couldn't say Ranma was a shining example of benevolence, but the boy had always struck him as someone who wanted to help in the past.

"Ahh!" Angela screamed, drawing all eyes to her, as Ranma had hopped up on her, pushing her into a sitting position. The Princess stepped forward intent on trying to get Ranma off of her, but Goliath stepped in her way, realizing what was going on. As the initial urge to interfere passed, it was shown that Ranma was happily purring, curled up on Angela's lap.

"Um, I guess he likes me." The female gargoyle laughed nervously, having an equally large Ranma pinning her to the floor.

The large doors to the hall opening, stopped any further discussion about Ranma, Elisa and the Magus were standing by either side of the twin door halves, and a man in armor strode forward confidently. Over the top his armor was a red tunic, on his chest was a large heraldic dragon in gold set against a burgundy backdrop, and on his back was a long royal blue cape. Adorning his head was a thin band of gold acting like a crown, a bright red jewel in the center of his forehead.

His long brown hair was pulled back in a single pony tail, and the only sign of age was the single band of gray running vertically in the center of his beard. Everything about the human, from his walk to how he held himself, spoke of royalty to Goliath, and since he was returning with Elisa, that meant this was King Arthur.

"Magus, is that?" Gabriel asked.

"It appears you had more success then we did." Goliath added.

"Thanks to the Magus." Elisa gave the elderly human credit for the act of waking the Sleeping King. "Ranma!" Elisa finally noticed the light blue colored gargoyle using Angela for a bed. "Um, what's going on?"

"Ranma has freed himself from their control, though it seems to have left him－ mentally different." Goliath tried to explain.

"Meow!" Ranma reacted to hearing his name, shifting on Angela's lap, and fluttering his wings before quieting down again.

"He thinks he's a cat?" Elisa guessed.

"Apparently." He shrugged.

"Ah, well since my introduction is screwed up. I present, King Arthur."

"Would someone be so kind as to explain." The human glanced around calmly. "Just what is going on?"

X x x x x x

Back in the grotto, the Archmage screamed in pain, clutching his chest. The Weird Sisters, were a across the pool from him, looking at him with small smiles on their faces. Breathing heavily, he looked down at the three slashes down his chest. With the power of the Eye of Odin, they were already healing.

"Where are they?" He demanded, his anger over losing the Phoenix Gate clouding his mind.

"Macbeth and Demona are already on their way to the castle." One of them answered, and he was too angry with the trio to even care who. Not that it really mattered, they all acted as one anyways.

"And that boy?" He spat. "How long until he is no longer able to use that technique?"

"Within the hour."

"No more chances." The wounds on his chest finally sealing. "Go to the hallow hill and kill the Sleeping King. After that, go to the castle, and help the other two."

"And as we do your bidding, what will you be doing?"

"I'll wait here, I need to replenish my strength, and I expect Goliath to make another attempt to steal the Eye from me."

X x x x x x

Sitting up, Ranma gave off a long yawn, feeling like he had been sleeping for weeks. Stretching his arms up over his head, he unconsciously spread his wings, and froze, realizing that something wasn't right. Finally opening his eyes, he found several strange gargoyles and a couple humans staring at him. Feeling what he was kneeling on shift, he looked down to see that he was on someones lap.

"Ack!" Leaping from the lap of the female gargoyle he had been using to take a nap on, Ranma stumbled over a table, and went toppling on to his back. "Ouch." He moaned and rubbed the back of his head. The sword tip that appeared in his face, lightly touching the tip of his nose, froze him in place. "I'm not sure what my old man did, but can we work this out peacefully?"

"Be you friend or foe lad?" The man holding the sword asked. The guy wore armor like a European knight to go along with the broadsword, with what Ranma guessed to be a gargoyle symbol on the front of his chest.

"I just want to know what's going on." Slowly he brought a hand up and pointed the sword away from his face. As tough as he was, sharp objects would still hurt.

"Tom, I think Ranma has returned to himself." Goliath said, laying a hand on the humans shoulder. The sword was withdrawn and sheathed at the man's hip.

"Hey Goliath, so you know this guy?" Getting up to his feet, he found that he was just slightly taller than this Tom. Which wasn't saying much, as a gargoyle he was taller than normal, especially after figuring out the mechanics of standing with his legs straight. "And um－ who are they?" He pointed at the group of gargoyles and humans. Ranma recognized Elisa and Bronx, but that was it.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Goliath asked seriously.

"I was fighting." He had to stop and think about it. "Demona and Macbeth, she tricked me, and he was there to kill her. Tried to kill me." Clutching his head, Ranma couldn't remember anything past that. "What happened after that? Did the curse get broken?"

"Ranma, that was over a month ago." Elisa told him, appearing at Goliath's side.

"What do you mean a month ago? Where am I? And who are they?" He demanded.

"It appears that the spell placed over him, leaves him with no memory of the events." An elderly man with a long staff, and white hair explained to everyone but him. "The Weird Sisters have been using you, under the Archmage's command."

"The Weird Sisters?" Vaguely he recalled three old ladies, duplicates of the one who brought him out of the neko-ken. "Using me? How?"

"As a soldier, some of the injuries here were caused by your own hand." The white haired man continued. Glancing around, Ranma saw a couple of the gargoyles with three slashes on their body, or in the case of a blond with blue green skin coloring, three cuts to his wing. Which thankfully looked more cosmetic than crippling.

"Neko-ken." He whispered and his head exploded in pain. Staggering, he clutched his head, feeling like someone was trying to claw at his skull. He remembered the three old women again, except they weren't old women, he could see an image around them, of three young women in flowing sky blue robes. As quickly as the memory came, it was gone, and he collapsed to his knees.

"The warriors have been spotted in the orchard!" Someone yelled.

"I knew my old master would not wait till morning." The white haired man said angrily.

"He might have if not for me." Goliath replied sadly.

"This could work in our favor." Another armor clad man broke in, his voice carrying a strange weight. "Come sunrise, there will be too few of us. The few of us with our health seem like able bodied knights, and with this warrior on our side, should he be as dangerous as you say, the tide should turn in our favor."

"Unfortunately, we cannot allow Ranma to fight for our cause." The white haired man stopped the other. "Should the Weird Sisters regain their control over him, it would prove disastrous."

"Hey!" Ranma shouted. "What is going on?" He demanded. "Where am I?"

"We have not the time to explain." The armored man with a gold head band disregarded him. "Remain here as a last resort and to protect the wounded. The only ones we cannot account for are the Archmage and the Sisters."

"I shall deal with the Sisters, it is only fitting, since it is I that incurred their wrath." The white haired man said resolutely.

"And I shall deal with the Archmage." Goliath spoke.

"Not without me." A female gargoyle that reminded Ranma of Demona added.

"Good, let us be off then." The brown haired human commanded and Ranma watched them file out of the room through a double door on one side. Left alone with an old woman and several gargoyles bandaged up on makeshift beds, he growled.

He hated being left out of the loop. "Who's the Archmage?" He asked, hoping for an answer.

The old woman studied him for a second before she answered. "An evil sorcerer who wishes to see me and the eggs destroyed."

"Eggs?" He mouthed. 'Oh right gargoyles come from eggs.' Seeing the injuries, he looked down at his hands. "Where is he?"

"He was at the grotto across the lake waiting before." The woman answered absently, treating a wound.

"I guess that's good enough." Up above there was a window cut into the stone, and he leaped up to it. Another sent him flying around a vast castle courtyard. Trying to get his bearings, he used an outer wall to boost his height. His eyes caught sight of Goliath and that girl heading off across a wide lake, and he immediately angled himself to follow. Quickly the girl pulled away, and headed off in a flanking maneuver, meaning it was just Ranma and Goliath heading across.

Across the lake, he could see a single figure standing beneath a round pavilion, a vortex of wind swirling around him. 'That must be him.' Flapping once, he adjusted his path into a slow dive. Goliath may have had a head start on him, but the big gargoyle still had the instinct to attack from above. Meaning that Goliath would stay high until the last moment. He accelerated from his downward trajectory, arriving at the same time as Goliath.

Goliath flew by the man, barely missing with an attack, while Ranma came to rest on the smooth marble floor. A magical lightning bolt flew from the Archmage's hand, barely missing Goliath, having failed at that, the white bearded human turned to regard him.

"Filthy beast, your use to me has ended!" A pure blue wave of magical shot from both of the man's hands at Ranma.

"Woah!" Diving behind a round column that held up the pavilions roof, he dodged just in time, the blast of magical energy tearing a head sized chunk of marble from the column.

"Ranma, leave this to me." Goliath called, attempting to fly into the Archmage, and was blasted from the sky, to roll across the floor and into the pool in the middle of the pavilion.

"Now to deal with you." The Archmage turned back to him, and Ranma stood waiting for an opening to attack. The man wasn't quick with his attacks, but the attacks themselves were like lightning. "You've cost me the Phoenix Gate, and for that I have something special planned for you." Raising up his right hand, the Archmage's beard and hair started to flutter wildly, and around Ranma a blue mist started to swirl, the marble beneath him glowing red.

"You'll be turned to stone, until Oberon's Palace rises above the clouds, and since that'll never happen, I'll make you into a coat rack, or maybe scatter your limbs around the island." The Archmage laughed wildly, and Ranma tried to move from his spot, but found his feet stuck firmly to the ground by an unseen force. "Dormiatis dum castellum." The human started, slowly working over each word.

"Damn!" He felt magic start to press in against him, and he threw his arms out to try and push it away through brute force.

"Super nubes ascendat!" The Archmage finished the spell, and the blue mist around him started to solidify around his body. Slashing his hands through the mist, he felt power exit his talons, and the world around him exploded in light.

X x x x x x

Inside the apple orchard next to Oberon's Palace, Macbeth, looked upwards at Demona who was circling overhead. A taloned hand pointed in the direction she had seen something. A gunshot grazing Demona, stopped both of them. Raising his pistol, he waited to see where the shot had originated from. Neither of them noticed the gargoyle that landed a flying kick on Demona, but each felt it, and he was forced to feel a second blow when she hit the ground.

Assisting his current comrade was delayed, when a brown haired man in medieval armor appear in front of him, a mace in one hand. This man was neither a gargoyle or part of the human group he was told to kill. Either way, the man was in Macbeth's way. Firing a bolt of electricity, his attack missed, barely grazing the man's cheek. Whoever the man was, he was fast enough to dodge after he had shot his pistol, and now hid behind a tree.

"What manner of magic is this?" The man asked.

Bracing his pistol, he held down the trigger. "It is your death." The thick apple tree stood no chance, toppling over as the concentrated current of electricity, burned through the wood. Smoke from the smouldering wood obscured his vision, so he moved in to make sure that his opponent was deceased.

His hand exploded in pain, and his pistol was knocked from his grasp. Avoiding a followup attack, he put some distance between himself and the man. "Who are you?" He demanded.

"I am Arthur Pendragon."

"King Arthur?" He realized.

"The very same."

"Well, I always did want to know how I stacked up against the legend." Shaking his hand several times to try and get rid of the numbness, he grabbed his secondary weapon, a broadsword.

X x x x x x

Demona smiled as she threw the male gargoyle into a tree, his fighting skill was pathetic at best, it was too bad that she would have to kill him. Before she could follow up her attack, she was intercepted, caught unaware with a blow to her face. Knocked to the ground, Macbeth across the clearing, being distracted by the attack, was driven to the dirt and held there with an arm hold. Crying out in pain, she hastily regained her feet.

"Ha! We're in luck! Our blows count twice." The human fighting Macbeth boasted.

"I'll put some distance between us!" She called to her partner.

"Stop her!"

Dodging several attempts by Elisa and another human to grab her, she found a large rock, and used it to gain the height necessary to start flying. On top of the battlements, several gargoyles with bows made laughable attempts to hit her. Training her laser rifle on their position, she raked the area with laser fire.

Demona didn't bother checking to see if she had finished them off, she knew she had severely injured them, and killing them could come later. Once she had killed the Princess. Landing on a wall, she heard rapid barking and foosteps, as Bronx and another gargoyle beast charged her. Snorting at their futile efforts, she hopped down from the wall, dropping thirty feet to the inner courtyard. Growling she looked around, trying to decide on the best place to start her search.

X x x x x x

"Taking a rest Grandfather?" Phoebe asked as she and her two sisters approached the human magus. "Or have you chosen this place to be your grave?" Crossing her arms, both of her sisters stepped up beside her.

"If it is to be, it will not be by your hand." The Magus said, the human sitting calmly in front of the waterfall next to the entrance of the Hallow Hill. Behind him, the long curving stairway lead up to the cave, where they would end the life of the Sleeping King. Oberon would not be pleased by the action, but they could easily blame the action on the mortal before them.

'To think Avalon's beauty has been spoiled by these mortals for so long.' She thought, glaring down at the man.

"You are no match for us." Seline replied.

"There is no future for you." Luna finished.

With speed belying his age, the Magus struck at them with his staff, rising from his sitting position, and swinging randomly. Laughing, they circled the doomed mortal, taking pleasure in his inability to strike them. 'So much like a mortal to not accept their fate.'

"Is this how you will defeat us?" She asked.

"No piece of wood can harm us." Seline spoke.

"And you have no magic here." Luna added.

"Mystical Avalon, hear my plee! Fill me with your energy!" The Magus raised his staff high up over his head, before slamming it down on to the grass. All of their eyes widened when bright white magic was pulled from Avalon, and into the mortals staff. Groaning in pain, the human directed his staff, and the energy at them. Screaming, the three took several steps back, unable to resist the pure magic from Avalon.

"You hurt us sorceror!" She shook with rage.

"You steal power from the land of our birth." Luna explained.

"You will suffer." All three of them spoke as one, rising up off the ground, closing their eyes, they each gathered power, preparing to vaporize this upstart mortal.

X x x x x x

Kicking in a tall set of double doors, Demona gave off a satisfied growl at finding Princess Katherine and a host of defenseless gargoyles inside. Slowly approaching the human, she really wanted to enjoy this. Easily catching an outstretched arm, a wounded female gargoyle with a prominent stegasaurus like crest on her forehead, Demona threw her with enough force to slide completely across the floor, and into a wall.

Intending to finish the job, her eyes tracked the Princess, the human placing herself between them. "No!" The human screamed. "Are you mad? These are your children!"

Briefly Demona realized the Katherine was right, something was wrong with her, if she was willing to attack her former clan's children. Just as quickly as the thought entered her head, it was shoved violently to the side, and she raised her laser rifle.

"Demona!" A male voice called from above, and the gargoyle she had been fighting in the orchard dropped down in front of her.

"How cozy, you can all die together, one big happy family." Sneering at the trio, a bullet whizzed past her face.

"Wouldn't you rather have me?" Elisa Maza asked, attempting to shoot Demona again, only to find that she was out of bullets.

"Yes." Throwing away her laser rifle, she wanted to feel the visceral sensation as she tore this particular human apart. After so many failed attempts to be rid of her, Demona would finally have the satisfaction of Elisa Maza's death. "I would."

X x x x x x

"You've been asleep too long old man!" Macbeth yelled, clashing his sword with Arthurs mace.

"Villian! I'll not be bested by the likes of you."

Their weapons clanged loudly off each other, moving through the apple grove. His sword was parried, and cut heavily into a tree trunk. Attempting to remove his weapon proved fruitless, and he ducked under a mace strike, allowing Arthur's weapon to smash into the tree. Elbowing the former king in the stomach, Arthur staggered back, giving him enough time to free his weapon from the wood.

Gasping, he clutched at his stomach, feeling pain come over the link he shared with Demona. The pain was enough to let him know that the gargoyle had been defeated. Falling backwards to avoid an attack, he rolled away from a follow up hitting the ground where he had been. Slashing at Arthur with his sword, the armored man was forced back, allowing him to get to his feet, and block another attack.

"I grow tired of this." He got out through gritted teeth, being forced backwards by Arthur.

"Then we are in agreement!" Arther knocked Macbeth's sword to the side with a mighty heave. Macbeth swung his sword, sensing an opening in Arthur defense. His sword met the head of Arthurs mace and shattered like a cheap toy. Before he could even throw his useless sword hilt away, he was struck in the stomach by Arthur's mace. The only thing saving him from being eviscereted, was his thick body armor. Falling to his knees, he struggled to gather breath.

"It's over." Arthur pulled back a fist, and the last thing Macbeth saw, was a large red and gold ring descending towards his face.

X x x x x x

Retreating up the steps towards the Hallow Hill, the Magus gave one last look back at the Weird Sisters, the trio floating through the wall of fire they had created. Stumbling, he increased his pace, he had to figure out a way to beat them. One more magical attack was all he had left, he could feel his life slowly draining away. He had taken magic from Avalon itself, and in return his life was being paid to return it.

Trudging through the cave portion, the Sisters were behind him, glowing with blue magic, and following slowly. No doubt sensing his imminent defeat, they were in no haste to finish him off. He slipped several times as he crossed the marble walkway to the bier. Glancing down, he noticed the two enchanted pieces of armor that had challenged him and Elisa earlier. The ones that he had disconnected and turned into harmless pieces of armor.

Falling against the bottom most step, he regained his feet, and climbed up to the top. For his last attack he would need all the magic that he could gather, and this bier was a focal point for the magic of Avalon.

"You only delay the inevitable Grandfather." One of them spoke.

"The Sleeping King! He's gone! Where is he?" The blonde demanded.

Placing his right hand on the top of the bier, he turned to face the trio. "Iron armor, swords, and riches." Magical energy pulled away from the bier, surrounding his body, and connecting him to the iron armor on the bridge. Gasping, it felt like every part of him was on fire. "Form a chain, to bind these witches!" The magic he had gathered transformed the iron armor into a long chain.

All three sisters cried out, the chain wrapping around them, binding them together, and sealing off their magic. Watching them fall to the marble floor, he fell back himself on to the bier, his body too weak, and close to death to do anything else.

X x x x x x

Slowly opening his eyes, Ranma lowered the arms he had raised in an instinctive move to protect his face. At first he thought that he had been turned to stone, and someone must have broken the spell, although the idea of moving that big castle on to a skyscraper like Castle Wyvern was ridiculous. Glancing around him, small pin points of light fell like snow.

"Those Sisters are worthless beyond belief." The Archmage fumed.

"Was that me?" Ranma asked, flexing his hands. 'What was that power I felt?' He had felt it exit his fingers, and even how it interacted with the spell being cast on him. "You better run." Ranma told the Archmage, shifting his eyes to view magical items, and seeing the excess energy gather around the Archmage.

"You may have gotten lucky once before, don't think that it'll happen again." The Archmage attempted to move, but found his feet locked in place.

"No, that's not what I meant." He shook his head sadly, a blue mist beginning to swirl around the Archmage.

"What is this?" The human demanded, thrashing around wildly.

"All that magic has to go somewhere." He tried to explain, remembering how Jusenkyo worked.

"No! What is the counter spell? Where is it?" The blue mist started to press in on the Archmage."It's not here, why isn't the counterspell in the Grimorum?"

"It was burned a long time ago." Goliath dragged himself out of the pool, having remained standing in the water after seeing the explosion of excess magic.

"No!" The Archmage screamed. "I will have my revenge!" Reaching out towards Goliath, the Archmage's body lost all color, becoming a dirty brown, and solidifying into stone. On his forehead, the Eye of Odin remained untouched, gleaming against the living statue.

"I tried to warn him, wasn't much I could do though." He shrugged to Goliath. "Guess this is another person I helped kill."

"Even frozen in stone, he is not dead." Goliath reached out and was about to grab the Eye of Odin, when Angela landed, stopping him.

"Goliath you did it!" She cried happily.

"No, he did it to himself, somehow Ranma reflected the spell back upon him." Goliath let his hand hover over the Eye. "This however cannot remain in his possession." Magical arcs of electricity raced up Goliath's arm when he made contact, and with pained roar, the talisman was pulled free of the statue. "Now, he's just an old man."

"He has the Grimorum though, not sure where on him." Ranma came up next to the statue, gulping at the frozen look of rage.

"The Magus said that the Grimorum could not be brought on the island." Goliath looked confusedly down at the Eye. "You're right though, he did mention the Grimorum."

"And that was definitely a spell from the Grimorum." He pointed out, noticing the stone Archmage begining to crack, fine hairline at first from where the Eye of Odin had been on his forehead, and growing bigger as they traveled down the body. Underneath the stone skin, a blue light illuminated all the lines, and finally the entire body burst apart, crumbling into dust. Even the dust particles themselves, dissolved until there was nothing left.

"Is he dead now?" Ranma asked lamely.

"I believe so." Goliath answered, also unnerved with how the Archmage met his end.

"What now?" He asked. "Nobodies even told me where I am yet."

"We need to return and help the others, I'll tell you on the way." Goliath placed the Eye of Odin into a small pouch attached to his belt. "Demona, Macbeth, and the Weird Sister will have attacked the castle by now. We can only hope that they were able to stop them."

"Then we should get going. There's a thermal to the north we can use to get back." Angela advised, using the small hill the grotto's structure was on top of to start flying. Goliath and him followed shortly after.

"Alright, explain it to me." He demanded, their progress back hampered by a headwind. Good for getting height, bad for speed.

"The Sisters kidnapped you after your fight with Demona and Macbeth, they then used you to steal the three magic items kept in the clock tower. After that, you disappeared." Goliath answered, turning his head to look at him.

"So then I hurt a bunch of people?" He guessed.

"Everything will be made right by the sun, don't worry about my brothers and sisters." Angela answered. "Just because we grew up cut off from the world, doesn't mean we're weak."

"And where am I exactly." Ranma listened as Goliath answered his question, going further into detail on how the big gargoyle had gotten here himself. When they arrived at the castle, he was fairly well filled in on the events leading up to when he woke up on Angela's lap. 'Aw man, how embarassing.' He thought, glancing at Angela, and blushing.

"Thank goodness you've returned." A beat up Gabriel embraced Angela, and Ranma noticed that one of his wings was broken. "Does this mean you've suceeded?" Behind Gabriel was the Princess, along with a half dozen gargoyles.

"The Archmage will not be troubling anyone ever again." Goliath answered. "How did you fair against the others?"

"Macbeth and Demona have both been defeated." Gabriel answered happily. "But, the Magus has yet to return." He finished sadly.

"Then we should go and help." Angela stated. "He could be hurt."

"Ranma, please remain here this time." Goliath tried to tell him.

"Ya know, if you tell me what to do one more time I'm going to have to hurt you." He crossed his arms irritably.

"I－ suppose you're right." Goliath conceeded. "And we shouldn't waste time arguing."

Along with several of the less injured gargoyles, Angela carrying Princess Catherine, Goliath with Arthur, a gargoyle named Micheal carrying Tom, and him having pulled duty dragging along Elisa, they went to a valley on the far side of the mountain from the castle. At the base of a set of stairs, split down the middle, and laying on it's side, was a tree nearly three meters in diameter. As soon as they set down, Katherine and Tom ran off up the steps as fast as they could.

"Thanks for the lift Ranma." Elisa thanked him, as he set her down.

"Payback for me hitting you."

"That's alright, I'm sure if you hadn't been there, Demona would have done far worse than giving me a lump." The American woman waved off his penance.

Following behind the group up the steps, he glanced back, and examined the area. Everything was charged with magic, especially the burning tree, that was slowly coming to a stop as if the ground and air around it didn't want to burn. Inside the cave at the top of the steps, he gazed in wonder at the vast cavern it lead into. The structures on this island all had a grand scale, and they were all orante as if decades had been spent crafting each tiny detail.

Across a marble bridge, the Princess was sitting at the side of the Magus atop a raised platform. The elderly man laying on his back, his hand held by Katherine. Off to the left were three young women, each a duplicate of the other, save for differences in hair color. They were bound together by thick iron chains, and seemed helpless to do anything about their capture.

"Oh Magus, what have you done?" Katherine asked, fussing over the man.

Ranma ignored the two humans, in favor of the trio of sisters, who were hauled to their feet by Arthur. "Are these the ones who controlled me?" He asked rhetorically.

"Aye, these be the three." Tom answered, jerking on the chains.

His eyes started to glow white, the trio trying to take a step back from him. Blinking away the glow to his eyes, Ranma relaxed his body, and walked away to exit the cave. Behind him, he heard the Princess yell out the Magus' name and begin crying.

X x x x x x

"You alright?" Elisa asked from behind him.

"I'm fine." He answered, sitting on a bridge at the bottom of the steps leading up to the castle. Staring at the water of a tall waterfall that was dropping in front of him, he was trying not to think. It wasn't as good as sitting underneath the water. Then again, he never did like getting wet, unless it was a hot day.

"We're going to be heading back in a bit. I assumed that you'd want to leave."

"Why did you come get me?" He asked without turning around.

"Goliath was, but then he wanted to go track down the Phoenix Gate pieces. That and I thought it would be better if someone human came and got you."

Spinning himself around on the railing, he crossed his arms. "Why?"

"Just thought it was gargoyle overload, you did say you don't remember anything after fighting Demona and Macbeth right?"

"Why are there so many here anyways?" He scratched his head, looking to Elisa for the answer, the mixed race woman was leaning against the railing on the opposite side of the bridge.

"This is where the eggs from Castle Wyvern were brought. The Princess, Tom, and the Magus raised them."

"Oh!" Realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "The Princess, Magus, and Tom." Smacking himself in the face he chastized himself for not realizing it sooner. Then again, Goliath should have told him when he was explaining things earlier. "Wasn't that was a thousand years ago?"

"Time's different here, one hour here means one day in the real world." She answered, her eyes tracking down to his hands. "Is that blood?" Elisa came up to him and tried to take a look at his hands.

"No." He denied, putting his hands behind his back. Elisa stood in front of him, her eyes half rolled, and her hands still out in front of her. Sighing, he brought his hands back out in front of him, allowing her to see the deep cuts in the palms. "I just scratched myself alright."

"Why would you do this?"

"I didn't try it." Grimacing when she kneeded his palm, he pulled his hand away. "Guess I'm still not used to these things." He had already cleaned off the blood before in the water, hence his position next to a river, but the three cuts on each palm kept bleeding freely whenever he flexed his fingers.

"This may sound strange, but how old are you?" Elisa took a seat next to him. "I've only seen you twice as a human, and I'm not that good at judging gargoyle ages."

"Fifteen." He answered and then added as an afterthought. "But Demona said I should say thirty when I'm like this."

"Younger than I thought. Seriously though, you're just a kid, don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it."

"Who says I need help?" He hopped off the railing to put some distance between himself and the woman.

"It doesn't take a psychiatrist to realize that you've just been through something tramatic. Come on Mr. Big Shot, it's already been a couple days since we got here, I don't want to lose my job by spending too much time here." Elisa walked off down the path away from the castle, leaving him alone.

"Not like I have anything to get back to." He grumbled, padding after Elisa.

When they reached a beach nestled between a sheer cliff, a huge fire burning on a point hanging over the water, and a strange light house on the other side, he caught sight of an unconcious Demona being put into a long skinny boat by a pair of unknown gargoyles, and stopped. What was he going to do? Demona had betrayed him, she set off what amounted to a bomb in his face, there really was nothing for him to go back to. Eyes downcast, he crossed the expanse of sand.

Goliath was saying something to Gabriel, which he promptly ignored, choosing instead to walk right up to the trio of still bound sisters, Bronx and another gargoyle beast standing protectively at their sides. "What did you do to me?" He asked quietly, trying to keep his anger in check. These three were the first people, human, gargoyle, or other, who he honestly wanted to kill.

"Only what the Archmage instructed." The black haired one responded.

"Answer me!" He reached forward and grabbed the chain holding them, bringing the trio close to himself.

"We guided your path to this point, save Puck's interuption." The white haired one said quickly, adding particular venom at Puck's name.

Growling he leaned in close. "You're stuck in an iron chain, that means you have to do whatever I say. I say give me my memories back."

"And free Demona, Macbeth, and Ranma from whatever control you still hold over them." Goliath added, stepping between Ranma and the Sisters. "Violence at this point will not solve anything." The large gargoyle instructed him. "Do this, and you earn your freedom."

"We shall do as you wish." The blonde spoke, her eyes starting to glow a bright blue. "We free you from our dreadful geas."

The eyes of the other two started to glow as well, and the black haired one spoke next. "Do as thou will."

"And as thou please." The trio finished, their glowing eyes, pulsing once brightly. In the next instant, a blue glow surrounded Ranma, and he screamed in pain as memories were forcibly shoved into his head. Collapsing to his knees, he clutched his head in a futile attempt to stop the pain. For what seemed like hours, though only a few seconds had gone by, a seering lance of pain stabbed his head. Finally it stopped and the glow around his body winked out of existence.

"Ranma?" He heard someone yelled dimly.

"I'm fine." He fell on to his side, and clumsily got to a sitting position.

"What did you do to him?" Someone yelled.

"Only what was asked." A sister answered. "You did not specify that it should be a painless process."

"What happens to them?" Ranma indicated the two unconcious forms in the boat, getting to his feet unsteadily. He remembered now, helping Macbeth and Demona steal Coldstone and the three magical items from the Clock Tower. Even things that he didn't want to, like attacking the castle earlier in the night. It was hard to remember though, like the whole thing was a dream. He couldn't be sure if it was real or made up.

"Avalon will take care of them." Tom pushed the boat off from the shore, and it slowly drifted out into the water. "They'll be taken where they need to be." Ranma watched as the boat was surrounded by mist, disappearing from sight shortly after. He looked away, feeling like he should have got in the boat as well.

"We have done as you asked." The black haired sister broke into the momentary silence.

"Fulfill your half of the bargain." The blonde chimned in.

"And free us from these chains." The white haired one finished.

"Yes, you have." Goliath broke the chain, releasing the sisters, who disappeared in a flash of red light, along with the iron chains.

Ranma glared at the spot where the trio had vanished, memorizing how they looked so he would recognize them if he saw them again. The distraction allowed Bronx to knock him to the ground, and start licking at face. "Gah! You got bad breath." He pushed the gargoyle beast off of him, Bronx sat down on his haunches, waiting to be petted. "But it's nice to see you again too." Patting Bronx's side a few times, he brushed the sand off his back.

X x x x x x

Goliath had to smile at Ranma, who was tackled again by Bronx and the other beast Boudicca. Unfortunately, he could see too much Demona in his actions, or maybe he had simply been the leader too long. Ranma was not under any inclination to follow his orders, and Goliath shouldn't have expected that he would.

Having turned down Gabriel's offer for his clan to join the one on Avalon, he had firmed his resolve that humans and gargoyles had to find a way to live together. They couldn't run away and hide on this beautiful island.

"Goliath." Angela drew his attention, the young female had her hands clasped in front of her. "I want to go with you."

Even though he knew that he couldn't hide anymore, Angela didn't know the dangers of the outside world. "The path is fraught with peril, but if that is what you wish, you'd be welcome company." Angela looked lost at first, before smiling brightly. Seeing that Gabriel was taking this news heavily, Goliath went to go help Ranma from the two affectionate gargoyle beasts, letting the two siblings have some time.

X x x x x x

"And you, Your Majesty?" Elisa asked King Arthur, the former King of England standing with his arms crossed, an amused smile on his face.

"I believe I will explore this new world, but on my own." Wading into the water and assuming control over one of the skiffs. "And thus a bit less conspicuous." He joked. Elisa had to laugh at that, whenever she was around Goliath, trouble seemed to follow.

Goliath too found humor in the statement. "If you reach an island named Manhattan, be sure to look up my clan."

"I'll be sure to do that!" Arthur yelled as he pushed off, directing his boat into the mist.

"Elisa." Turning away from the water, she found Katherine standing resoulutely on the beach. "Thank you for your help, all of you."

"We could not have done otherwise." Goliath knelt down and bowed his head to the woman. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Elisa repeated.

"Goodbye my Princess." Angela came over and hugged the elderly woman.

"Stay safe Angela." Katherine reluctantly releasing Angela.

Ranma approached the Princess slowly, the woman's glare weighing heavily on the boy. "I'm truly sorry that I've caused so much pain here." He apologized, bending at his waist, and bowing deeply to the woman. When the boy didn't immediately stand back up, Katherine's eyes softened.

"Rise." Katherine commanded. "You're actions were not your own, and it would be wrong for me to hold you responsible. None of us are without fault."

"Thanks." Ranma straightened up, adding a moment later to himself. "I kind of thought this would make me feel better." He pouted, scratching at the base of his ponytail. Katherine blinked several times, and then her face grew red.

"Are all children this disrepectful in the world today?" She asked Goliath, shaking with anger.

Hurrying over, Elisa grabbed Ranma's arm and pulled him towards a boat. "Probably not the best thing to say when she just forgave you." She whispered.

"What? I was trying to apologize?" Ranma hopped into a skiff, splashing her with water.

"I'll explain it later. Take the oar and help paddle." She jumped into the other skiff, the two being tied together at the front of Ranma's and the back of the one she now sat in. Both of them were floating next to the shore sideways, the perfect distance out, like everything else on the island, it was like Avalon was being helpful. Bronx joined Ranma in the other, and Angela plus Goliath got on hers. Though Elisa did notice that Goliath helped push Angela away from Ranma's direction.

"Good luck." Gabriel waved as they pushed away from the island.

Noticing the leather pouch dangling from Goliath's belt, Elisa poked it, and heard the faint jingle as what she guess was the Eye of Odin and the Phoenix Gate. "Souvenirs?" She asked.

"I'm going to personally ensure that neither of them will be used again." Goliath pushed against the seabed with a long oar.

"Good idea, but my personal goal is to get back to New York. As soon as possible." Drawing up her knees, she rested her elbows on them, and held her head in her hands. Angela was at the front of the boat, looking like a kid who had just been told she could go to Disneyland.

"Elisa!" Tom yelled from the beach. "I thought I told you, Avalon does not take you where you want to go. Avalon sends you where you need to be!"

"Need to be? What's that supposed to mean?" Ranma asked worriedly.

"I think we're going to find out." She said just as confused as the human turned gargoyle in the other boat.

X x x x x x

Author Notes

Spells

"Per usum meum dira te rectus volutare"  
Through my skill twist back the curse directly on you.

"Vocate venti fortunate, ex rege Oberonis, et hic navis flugem regate, ad orae Avalonis."  
Come winds safely, from the shores of Oberon, guide this ship through the waves, to the shores of Avalon.

"Dormiatis dum castellum super nubes ascendat."  
May you sleep until the castle rises above the clouds.

Timeline

March 8, 984 – The Archmage is saved from death by his future self, and is brought forward in time.

September 28, 995 – The Weird Sisters are forced to allow the Magus, Princess Katherine, and Tom by them and on to Avalon where they will raise the gargoyle eggs from Castle Wyvern. After their defeat, they agree to help the Archmage, since they cannot go to Avalon without an outside command.

September 28, 1020 – The pair of Archmages come across the Weird Sisters again, bringing Demona and Macbeth to their attention.

June 15, 1985 – In Japan the Archmages once again contact the Weird Sisters, indicating what they are to do with Ranma.

Dec 24, 1995 – The Archmage travels back in time to start a time loop that will get him the Phoenix Gate, Eye of Odin, and Grimorum Arcaenorum. This sets forth the events that will put Demona, Macbeth, and Ranma under his direct control. Once the loop is complete and he has the magical items and his soldiers, they attack the humans and gargoyles living on Avalon.

Dec 27, 1995 – Tom ventures out from Avalon after an initial attack by the Archmage, and gets Goliath, Elisa, and Bronx to return to Avalon with him to help defeat the Archmage.

January 1, 1996 – Since five hours have passed on Avalon, five days have passed in the real world. The Archmage is defeated and the ones under his control are freed.


	7. Homecoming

"Speech"

'Thought'

X x x x x x

As a storm raged overhead, the rain thankfully holding off, Ranma struggled to keep his skiff in sync with the one piloted by Angela in front. Wherever they had ended up, it was night, and the weather was not being very cooperative.

"I've never seen a storm like this." Angela called over the roar of waves.

"Where are we?" Elisa asked as a tall cliff face rose up

"It's home." Goliath announced from the bow of Angela's skiff. "My home." Two flashes of lightning illuminated the sheer cliff face in response to Goliath's words.

Rising up and down as the sea heaved, the two small skiffs started to spin, facing sideways into a large wave that crashed over them. Shaking his head clear of water, he regained control of the rudder and pulled hard to help point the skiffs towards the shore.

"Make for the cave on the left!" Goliath yelled back.

"Easy for him to say." He said through a mouthful of salt water.

Underneath them, a large swell picked up, and their speed increased, surfing in through the mouth of the cave. The rope holding the two skiffs together, finally gave way, allowing Ranma to maneuver his up along side the other. Their boats slowed drastically with the water growing calm deep in the cave. Coming to rest on a sandy beach, Bronx immediately rose up, and with a few whimpers, looked around skeptically.

"Now that was an E-ticket ride." Elisa joked, jumping out of the other skiff.

"Perhaps we should wait out the storm in here?" Angela suggested.

"When the tide comes in, this cavern will be underwater. We must move to higher ground." Goliath answered. In response, lightning flashed above, and rain began to fall down to them.

"Looks like we'll be wet either way." Elisa joked.

"Second time traveling with gargoyles, second time I get stuck in the rain." Ranma groaned, hopping out of his boat.

"Come." Goliath ignored his comment, and purposely started up a path.

Following up the slick path, with Elisa in front of him, Bronx behind, and Angela up next to Goliath. The detective in front of him slipped once, and he nearly went to help her, but she recovered and slowed her ascent. Ranma wasn't really sure on how she was walking up the slick rock with shoes on. The path twisted back around towards the cliff, entering into a real cave, before opening up into a ledge about halfway up.

"Look there!" Goliath pointed upwards. "Castle Wyvern stood atop this cliff." Without waiting, he jumped up on to the rock, and began to climb. "Come, you must see the sight of our ancestral home."

"Does he seem weird to you?" He asked Elisa, Goliath struck him as someone who thought about things, but here he was ignoring everything for a single goal.

"A little, I guess he's just excited to be home." The woman shrugged. "Um, you mind helping me up?"

"Oh, sure I guess." Letting Elisa drape over his shoulders, he started to climb upwards with Bronx and Angela joining in a moment later.

"I admit I'm excited to see our clans former home, but isn't it more important for us to find shelter?" Angela asked.

"It is." He replied, not wanting to be back here himself, and not expecting Goliath to remain excited. At the top, Elisa released her hold on his neck, and he crossed his arms, watching the woman approach Goliath. When another bolt of lightning lip up the sky, Goliath gasped, taking a single step back.

"Goliath? What did you see?" Angela asked.

"Nothing, just－ shadows." The large gargoyle answered slowly. "Come." Without looking back, Goliath headed off towards the cliff, where Castle Wyvern once stood.

"Aren't you coming Ranma?" Angela asked, minorly excited over where they were.

"I don't like it here." Raising a wing over his head like an umbrella, he added. "And I'd rather be out of the rain."

"But this is where the clan used to live." She pleaded and grabbed his arm to pull him towards the large hole in the cliff.

"I'm not from your clan." He explained, pulling his arm away. "And I'm not really a gargoyle, I'm this way because of magic."

"I－ don't understand." Angela's brow furrowed in concentration.

"This was a curse." He motioned to himself. "I'm really human."

Angela stared at him, trying to comprehend what he had just told her. Concepts like transformational magic were beyond her expeirence, Angela had lived all her life, sheltered on Avalon. It had been a major kick to his system when he first took a dip in Jusenkyo, and he had been traveling the world and seeing many oddities.

"In the morning, I'll change to a human, what I was born as." He tried to explain.

"Angela." Elisa joined in their conversation. "It's true. Demona is the reverse, a gargoyle who becomes human during the day."

"How did it happen?" Angela asked with intense curiousity.

"Angela!" Goliath suddenly shouted. "Come here."

Reluctantly the gargoyle headed off to where Goliath stood. "Yes Goliath?"

Shrugging, both he and Elisa followed. Goliath was standing over a circular pit, at the far end was a cave entrance. At one point it might have been more defined, but now everything was eroded and overgrown by plants. And while the cave entrance may have lead somewhere before, it had long since collapsed.

"This was the rookery, I was hatched here with my brothers and sisters." Goliath explained, jumping down into the pit, Angela following a moment later. "Angela, you and the other children were but eggs when the Princess and Magus took you from this place. It was here, that I knew your guardian Tom, when he was but a lad."

"Goliath." Demona's voice suddenly filled the air as lightning flashed overhead. Ranma and Goliath both gasped, looking around for the source of the voice. From his spot, Bronx suddenly raised his head, and let off a long mournful howl. "Come to me."

"What's wrong?" Elisa asked and a bolt of lightning came down to strike the lone tree on the hill, a gnarled piece of dead timber, sitting over top of the cave. The wood burst into flame and exploded, sending large chunks of debris down around them. In sync, the wind and rain increased their ferocity, and Ranma had to stop using his wing for an umbrella, the wind blowing the material around too much to be of any use.

"We can't stay here." Angela panicked at the ferocity of the weather.

"Didn't you tell me once that there were caves around here?" Elisa asked, using her red jacket to shield herself.

"Yes, of course." Goliath said absently, still disturbed by the ghostly voice of Demona. "This way."

Ranma lagged behind, eying the half circle hole where Castle Wyvern used to sit. Something was tickling his senses in a way he had never dealt with before. Understanding what he was being told by them, was out of reach. But what he could guess well enough though, this place was bad.

The caves were not close, and they had to walk across a wide open plain to get to any kind of cover. If Ranma remembered correctly, there should have been a forest past the initial field. When he had asked about this, Goliath indicated that the forest was chopped down as the human inhabitants of Castle Wyvern had grown, their need for farm land having increased.

Comparing the large cave to the raging storm, Ranma didn't know which was worse. The former location of Castle Wyvern had felt off, the cave felt like he was back looking at Demona's mansion after their fight. Apparently he was the only one visibily unnerved by the place, because the rest of the group filed inside without a thought.

Deeper inside the cave, the floor glowed with a pale green light, a magic spell that must have been put in place centuries ago. "Not exactly homey." Elisa commented.

"In the labyrinth below, the Archmage made what we though was his final stand." Goliath explained, noticing something in the floor, he bent down and pulled a half buried spiked mace from the dirt. Ranma noticed that the weapon was the same kind that Demona liked to use. "The Vikings camped here, the night they attacked our home, and shattered my clan." Goliath threw the weapon to the side and turned away from them.

"On the other side of the cave there is a cliff. There, I had to decide whether to have my revenge, or to save Princess Katherine." Turning back, specifically to look at Angela, Goliath continued. "Hakon and the Captain of the Guard fell to their deaths, but not at my hands."

"You chose correctly Goliath, if you hadn't saved the Princess, I and my rookery kin would never have been hatched." Angela put a positive spin on the confession.

"Still, I wanted－ still want, revenge." Goliath growled.

"They're dead Goliath." Ranma butted in. "Nothing can change how." His mind flashed back to Jusenkyo, and he questioned whether he should have tried to change the events that happened there. Or even trying to go back and stop Demona from using the stone by night curse.

Goliath didn't seem to hear him, looking around wildly, and running off a few meters. "Princess!"

Ranma started to hear laughter, and looked around nervously. Bronx gave his own concerned growl, and a loud roar of thunder echoed through the cave, startling everyone.

"Man this place is creepier than the morgue at midnight." Elisa pulled her jacket tighter around her.

"We're not alone here." He glared at a pair of small glowing clouds, hovering in the air next to a doorway further into the cave, the doorway carved into the rock. Bronx padded over to stand next to his legs, growling at the small clouds.

"Ranma, what do you see?" Elisa came up next to him, trying to see what he was looking at.

"Next to that creepy gate, two mist things." He explained, not moving his eyes, he didn't know how a glowing ball of mist could look at things, but Ranma got the distinct feeling that they were looking right at him. Especially after he had pointed them out.

"But there's nothing there." Angela told him, and as if on cue, the clouds pulled back and disappeared into the arch itself.

"We should leave." He narrowed his eyes, trying to settle himself. His entire body was tense, prepared to fight at a moments notice. Something magical was going on here, he could feel it in his bones.

"I agree, the storm seems to be dying down, and if this place is making you upset, we shouldn't stay." Elisa took Goliath's hand in her own, trying to pull him towards the entrance.

"Maybe you're right, it seems that too much of the past is still alive here." Goliath sighed.

"Is there a town or something nearby?" Angela asked excited at the prospect of seeing something new.

"Yes－ um－ to the south, several miles." Goliath answered.

"Well if there isn't any more lightning we could fly there pretty quick." Ranma left the cave in a hurry, happy to be away from the two mist things. "I wonder if they have any good food?" Licking his lips, he was really hungry.

Goliath's roar, stopped him from going on about what kinds of food he wanted to get. A large puple fist impacted his face, drove him to the ground, and before he could even recover from the shock, another punch nearly broke his nose. Roughly grabbed by the front of his shirt, Ranma was hoisted into the air, and thrown against a wall, to be held aloft.

"Lemme go." He grunted, struggling against Goliath's hold, the other gargoyle tightened his grip. "Don't make me hurt you old man." He gasped out, preparing to put Goliath down painfully if necessary.

"Goliath! Let him go!" Elisa pulled on Goliath's arm in a futile attempt to get him released.

"Goliath stop it!" Angela added, only to be grabbed by the front of her dress and pinned to the wall as well.

Ranma was released before he could make an actual effort to free himself, when Bronx tackled Goliath from the side. Falling awkwardly on his backside, Ranma rubbed at his chest, where one of Goliath's claws had been digging in.

"What was that for?" He hollered over Bronx's snarling, his tail lashing angrily at his rough treatment. "If you want to fight, we can do it later." Glaring at the lavender gargoyle, his anger fizzled at the confused look on Goliath's face. Wiping at some blood leaking from his nose, he was happy Goliath at least used his fist, rather than claws.

"Why did you attack Ranma?" Elisa asked, crouching down next to Goliath.

"I don't know, I saw－." Goliath's eyes focused back on Ranma.

"What?" He asked, taking a step back to prepare to defend himself if Goliath attempted to attack him again.

Goliath rose to his feet, pushing Elisa away, he ran past Ranma's side. "Stay away!" Running deeper into the cave he called back. "You're in danger from me!"

X x x x x x

Barely making out the steps in front of him, Goliath plunged into the darkness. He could hear footsteps behind him, but he dared not look back, lest he see more visions. Cursing to himself, he couldn't believe how little control he had shown. The thought that he might attack Elisa kept him going. He had already hurt Ranma and Angela, how would he be able to live with himself if he hurt her? The other two were warriors and gargoyles, they could take abuse, but Elisa was just a human, and he would have ripped her in half accidentally.

Reaching the bottom of the steps, he arrived at the lair of the Archmage. The entire hall was still magically lit by a soft blue light. Staggering past the Archmage's alter, a platform with a large skull formed from rock leering out at him. To the other side, was a deep chasm, and over a thousand years ago, it was where the sorcerer was thought to have perished.

"Goliath." A familiar female voice called to him. "Join me in the dark." Demona's voice pleaded.

"No! Leave me alone!" He cried back into the darkness.

"Goliath, don't abandon us!" The voice called again.

"Goliath!" Elisa called out, and he spun around, finding all of his traveling companions arriving at the bottom of the steps.

Holding out a hand in warning, he called to them. "Stay back! I don't want to hurt you."

"You would hurt your friends? Your clan?" Angela appealed to him.

"I can't trust what I see!" Clutching his head, he took off running again, heedless of the danger. He followed the curving path next to the chasm, the walkway barely large enough to move on. Hearing the patter of rapid footsteps behind him, he yelled back. "Watch out! You might fall!"

Rounding a corner, he slid to a stop, ahead down the path, was the glowing form of Hakon, the Viking leader. Staring, he was unprepared when Hakon shot towards him at high speed, and he fell backwards to avoid him. By avoiding the apparition, the ground beneath his feet gave way, and he fell into the chasm below.

X x x x x x

"Gotcha!" Ranma exclaimed, Goliath hanging into the void below, the only thing keeping him from falling to his doom, being Ranma's grip on the large gargoyles wrist. "Gah you're heavy! How do fly?" Struggling to pull Goliath up, his knees started to slide across the slick rock, the only thing stopping him were the small upward pointing spikes below his knee cap. Letting go with one hand, he plunged his talons into the rock to get a firm hold. "Come on you big idiot, quit playing around." (1)

Goliath fumbled to try and help, but seemed mentally out of it. "Fine." Ranma pulled Goliath back up over the edge with a powerful heave, and letting him fall heavily to the walkway. "But if I have to drag you out of this place, you're going to owe me－ big time."

"Thank you Ranma." Goliath shifted to sit against the cave wall a safe distance from the edge.

"Yea yea, let's just go." He waved off the thanks, and stood up, eager to leave this place. Goliath stood up as well, wavering on his feet, but looking like he would be able to follow him out.

"Goliath are you alright?" The two female members of their party asked, having been far more careful about following that he had been.

Goliath turned to look at the pair, immediately gaining the same expression he had earlier when looking at him. "Stay away!" The big gargoyle yelled, taking off down the path again. He didn't get two steps before he had fallen over the edge again, only this time Ranma wasn't able to catch him.

"No!" Angela yelled, Elisa joining in a half second later as several loud crashing noises echoed up. Finally a loud thump ended all the noise, and there was a tense moment of silence between all of them.

"What can we do?" Angela broke the silence, rapidly looking for a way down.

"We climb down and get him." Elisa said resolutely, twisting around, and beginning to climb down backwards. Angela a moment later started down face first, and keeping close to Elisa.

Ranma watched the woman descend down into the black chasm, but he couldn't figure out if she was being brave or stupid. Elisa wasn't very strong or tough, not like he was as a human, and climbing down a vertical wall in a dark cave? What was she thinking? Better yet, why was Elisa doing so much for Goliath? Why would a normal human risk so much for a gargoyle?

"That'll take too long." He told himself, and jumped over the edge to plunge feet first into the abyss.

Realizing almost instantly the kind of stupid move he had just made, he shot his hands and feets out, making contact with the walls. The harsh squealing noise of his claws against the wall assaulted his ears, and he stopped a moment later. "Phew." The gorge had narrowed far too quickly for his taste. "I don't know what's dumber, Goliath for falling, those two for climbing, or me for deciding to jump in."

"Ranma! Are you alright?" Angela called down to him.

"Yea I'm fine!" He called back, switching his left hand and foot to grasp the other side of the wall, to begin climbing down at a slower pace.

The walls opened up slowly, and he was beginning to wonder when it would end, as well as how he would find Goliath. Ranma didn't think he'd be able to haul the big gargoyle out from the pit without him at least holding on to his neck. The wall was crumbling away beneath his talons, throw on even more weight, and he'd never get out.

Releasing his holds, he dropped down on top of a downward sloping ledge, and then made another further drop to a ledge below that was flat and extended further out. Behind him was another passageway with some steps leading upwards. Peering over the side, he saw the bottom finally. Hearing strange noises echo from the passageway, he briefly examined the floor, before calling up to the other two.

"Goliath isn't here! But there's another cave that he must have went into!"

"We'll be down in a few minutes!" Angela called back.

Turning back to the passage, he started up the up the steps, the stone curving to the right. He slowed, feeling the strange energy of the cave become incredibly focused up ahead. But he couldn't turn back, now that he was in such a narrow passage, he could smell where Goliath had passed. After traveling about a hundred steps, he came to the top of them, the hallway suddenly opening up into a vast cavern.

Looking around at all the shrap stalagmites and stalagtites, he saw a large structure in the center of the cavern. It was glowing a pale blue, barely illuminating the entire visible area. Standing top of a pyramid like base, were four square columns, with a copy of the base on top, leaving the pyramid unfinished.

Taking one step forward, one of the mist balls appeared to his right, and circled quickly around him several times, before coming to a stop in front of him. "Hey, what are you?" He asked, reaching with a finger to try and touch the cloud. It moved quickly out of the way, and took off in the direction of the middle structure. "Stop!" He called, running after it.

He was so engrossed in finding out the mist's origin that he nearly missed Goliath examining the strange writing the covering one of the four columns. When the mist vanished into the stone, they both finally noticed each other.

Goliath turned to look back at him, his hand briefly brushing over the ten meter wide stone column. Before either of them could say anything, the hieroglyphics up to Goliath's height, lit up with a bright purple light, and the entire area started to shake like they were expeirencing an earth quake. From the ceiling, rock rained down outside of the structure, and Ranma watched as the fallen rock started to combine, shaping itself into dozens of gargoyle forms.

"What the hell?" Looking around, the forms started to walk towards them, each one growling hatefully.

"Betrayer!" The entire group of rock gargoyles said at once in a wavering voice, and pointed at Ranma.

"Huh?" He asked, surprised over their choice of words.

"Betrayer to the Vikings!" They called again.

"I think we should be going now." Ranma told Goliath uneasily, turning to find the larger gargoyle glaring angrily. "What?"

With a roar, Goliath charged at him, and unlike the previous time, Ranma jumped backwards, flaring his wings to land lazily on the ground near the base of the pedastal. "What was that for?" He demanded, only to be pushed from behind by a stone gargoyle.

"This time, I'll kill you with my bare hands!" Goliath shouted, leaping forward with his right fist cocked back, his claws prepared to strike.

"Eeek." Diving to the side, he rolled once, letting Goliath's attack slam harmlessly into the ground. Popping to his feet, he had to fend off several clumsy grabs from the stone gargoyles.

"This time Robert, there will be no escape!" Goliath stalked forward slowly, claws prepared to strike.

"Ranma! Not Robert!" With a congregation of stone gargoyles around him, he had no where to go, so he stepped forward at the last moment, and caught Goliath's wrists, to hold the clan leader in place.

"Ranma?" Goliath's eyes returned to their normal color for a moment. "No! I won't be fooled again!"

Ranma wasn't ready for the sudden strength of Goliath, and was forced backwards to slam heavily into the group of stone gargoyles, smashing them to pieces. Unnoticed by either of them, more hieroglyphics on the columns lit up, the glow around the area becoming more intense.

"Enough old man!" Ranma released Goliath's left wrist, and punched him square in the jaw, making him stagger back. Ranma winced, feeling the scratches on his palm open up again. His act of retaliation made the number of glowing hieroglyphics increased, until they were all lit from the floor to the ceiling.

With speed belying his great size, Goliath tackled him to the ground. Tumbling over each other, they struck a stalagmite, and broke apart. Dizzily getting to his feet, Ranma smiled, feeling like an impromptu spar was just what he needed to feel better.

"Goliath." Demona's voice called out, making both of them turn to see said gargoyle in stone form, standing at the center of a break in the wall of stone figures. "After all these centuries we meet again."

"Demona?" Goliath asked, shaking his head, and looking from the stone figure to Ranma. "This is wrong, she was not caught in the massacre. You fled before the attack and escaped with her life. None of this is real, none of you are real!"

"No!" Demona screamed, raising her right arm, her fist shifting to that of a spiked mace. She charged forward at Goliath, who caught, and threw her to break apart several stone gargoyles.

"I'm sorry Ranma, I was not myself." Goliath apologized, the rest of the stone figures falling apart to lay in piles on the ground.

"Forget about it, I think we have bigger problems." Ranma pointed to where the two clouds of mist were hovering above the floor, their color having changed to a glowing yellow.

"So he finally figured it out, eh?" A gruff man's voice echoed through the cavern.

"Hakon." Goliath growled, the two mists expanding and taking on human forms.

When they finished, in their place were a fit man with long blond hair, and beard. The other, a stout older man Ranma remembered seeing when he had traveled back in time, with long light brown hair, and a white mustache. They were both transparent, neither making the subtle motions of life, creating an air of deathly stillness to them.

"Neither of you will live this cave alive, or dead for that matter!" Hakon laughed, glaring hatefully at both of them.

"But the two of you fell to your doom the night of the raid!" Goliath said with disbelief.

"Aye, and for ten times a hundred years, our spirits have languished in this stinkin hole." Robert walked up to them calmly. "Perhaps it was the magic in this place, or maybe just the strength of our hatred that kept us here." The man turned to look directly at him, his eyes losing some of their intensity. "Too bad that you had to show up, I－ respected your ancestor."

"As much as we hated each other, we hated you a thousand times more." Hakon sneered. "And now you'll both help us live again." Pointing a finger at the columns, the magical energy spiked again, the words glowing flashing and sparking.

Ranma groaned in pain along with Goliath, a soft blue glow developing around them, and he could literally feel his life being drained out of him.

"The magic will drain your lifeforce, and transfer it to us." Robert explained, both him and Hakon became less and less transparent.

X x x x x x

Slipping, Elisa found a hand hold and caught herself from slipping into the dark abyss. Clutching on to the stone, she breathed heavily through her mouth, and felt her heart rapidly hammering in her chest. 'Who's stupid idea was it to climb down into a pit in the middle of a cave again?'

"Elisa are you alright?" Angela asked protectively, her hands and feet ripping into the rock, as she climbed closer.

"Just fine." She answered, feeling anything but.

"I think I see a ledge." Angela swung herself from head first to feet first. "I should be able to carry you down to it."

"That might be for the best." Taking an offered hand from Angela, she climbed on to the gargoyles back.

"Hold on tight." Angela released her holds, and they plummeted down into the darkness. Elisa held on tightly, feeling the female gargoyles wings spread, and catch the air. Immediately their descent slowed, and the next moment, they landed on a ledge. "You can let go now." Angela joked, kneeling down. Bronx came quickly crunching down the wall, and hopped down from the stone.

"Thanks." She rubbed at her hands, noticing several cuts that she had gained on the climb. "Guess this is what Ranma yelled up to us." She noted, looking up the long stair case, and finding a bright blue light flickering down the corridor. "I don't know if I like that though."

X x x x x x

Ranma's fist was caught easily by Hakon, the blond man laughing cruelly, before elbowing him in the face. Staggering back, he tripped over a wing tip, and fell to the floor. Hakon dodged another attack from Goliath, grabbed the gargoyles arm, and threw him to slam face first into the ground next to Ranma.

Struggling back to his feet, he didn't even have the energy to raise his wings up to stop them from dragging on the floor. Seeing Hakon draw back a fist, he tried to dodge, but could do nothing to stop the fist from hitting him in the face. He was surprised when Hakon stumbled off balance, and passed right through him. Spinning in place, his foot slipped, forcing him into a wide stance, his arms and wings hanging limply.

Hakon laughed loudly, looking between him and Goliath. "It's almost complete, and then you two can rot in this pit till the end of time." Goliath roared and attemped to tackle Hakon, only to pass through the man, and fall to the ground once again.

'Guess I gotta try that again.' Ranma looked down at his fingers, trying to figure out how he had done the neko-ken attack against the Archmage. Weakly raising his right arm above his head, his action causing Hakon to turn, and laugh at him.

"And what are you going to do boy? Wave at me?"

"Just this." He slashed with as much force as he could, trying to do the attack. The only thing that happened, was that he threw himself off balance, causing him to fall forward on to his side.

"HA!" Hakon kicked some dust at him. "You're funny boy."

Ranma wanted to get up and continue trying to take out the blond man, but found the last of his energy draining away. There would be no last second save for him this time. The mysterious power that had saved him against the Archmage, had refused to appear. So this was how it ended, life sucked out by a pair of ghosts in the pit of a cave.

"Hey, Goliath." He looked at his traveling companion. "Next time you make trouble in the past, don't bring it back with you." He joked, rolling to lay on his back.

X x x x x x

Goliath shifted his eyes to look at the human turned gargoyle. Laboring to gain breath, and finding that each one gave progressively less air, he struggled to turn himself towards the former Captain of the Guard. On the human's face was a look of indecision, and sorrow. Proof it seemed that there was still good left in the man.

"What good－ is life, without honor?" Goliath implored to Robert, repeating one of the many life lessons the human had imparted upon him.

His question had the desired effect, and Robert's eyes gained a determined look. "You're right, I can't let this happen again." Charging forward, the older man grabbed Hakon around the waist, and pushed him through the wall of light and wind that had surrounded the magical columns.

"What are you doing you fool?" Hakon struggled against the Captain's grasp as he was pushed to stand at the center of the platform. "You broke the circle!" Around the pair, magical lightning shot between the columns, occasionally wrapping around the two human forms at the center.

Instantly, Goliath felt his strength return, and he regained his feet. Checking, he found that Ranma had also stood up, his body losing it's transparency rapidly. Glancing down at his hands, they resumed their normal form, and consistency.

"Goliath!" Elisa's voice called out over the rapid sparks of magical electricty.

"You two are alright!" Angela added, the trio consisting of her, Elisa, and Bronx running up to Goliath and Ranma.

"We should be going." Ranma drew their attention. "Now!" In response to the boy's words, the wind which had so far only swirled around the monument, became a hurricane force torrent around the cavern.

"Agreed." Shielding Elisa with his body, they ran back towards the entrance, and turned to watch the magical activities.

"We've hated Goliath for a thousand years!" Hakon's voice was magically carried over the wind.

"Nay!" Robert's answered. "I've hated myself for betraying him! And now I've been given a chance to atone!"

A blinding light erupted from where the two forms were still struggling, a beam of pure energy shot upwards from the base, obliterating the roof of the monument. The stone gave way, and they broke into pieces, tumbling to the ground along with a large chunk of the ceiling. With rock and stone now resting on the floor, the light died off, leaving them to peer through the darkness and settling dust.

"There were two men in there." Angela said worriedly, blinking her eyes to clear them.

"They were already." Ranma started to say that they were already dead, before Goliath put a hand on the boy's shoulder, and shook his head. He did not want Angela to learn who the blond man had been. The destroyer of his clan should be lost to the passage of time. He deserved to be erased.

Curious over a small glowing section of rock, he approached to find out if there was still any remnants of Robert left. He figured that the power which had allow the two spirits to play with his mind before, and then make an attempt to steal his very life, was now gone with the destruction of the monument.

"Did you know them Goliath?" Elisa asked.

"I did." He drew in a deep breath through is nose. "One enemy, and one friend."

Rising up slowly from the dimly glowing rock was a pure white mist, it swirled briefly, before corralescing into the ghostly form of Robert. The man standing resolutely on the rock, looking down at him with contentment.

"Thank you Goliath, for helping me remember who I was, and for freeing me from the hatred and guilt that held me here. Farewell, old friend." Robert once more dissolved into a mist, and gathered into a tight ball, before shooting skywards, to disappear into the ceiling.

"I got a feeling this has a long story behind it." Elisa commented.

"Centuries long." Giving one last look at the spot where his old friend had last stood. Spinning, he walked purposely away, finding Ranma having remained near the entrance, looking upwards now at the ceiling.

"He was the one wasn't he? The one who killed everyone at Castle Wyvern." Ranma asked.

"Yes, it was him." He answered, still angry over not being able to kill the man with his own hands.

"It's good to know that he suffered for what he did." Ranma caped his wings, and left him.

Narrowing his eyes to watch the retreating form through the darkness, Goliath couldn't help but superimpose Demona's form on to Ranma's. Firming his jaw, he would have to try and direct Ranma down a different path, so that he wouldn't follow in Demona's footsteps.

X x x x x x

Ranma had never felt so happy to see the sky, than he was now. The clouds had cleared except for a few lingering spots off in the distance, and the rest of it was a brightening shade of blue. Crossing his arms, he waited for the others to catch up. Goliath had been busy explaining what had gone on as best he could, and Ranma was only passively listening.

"Doesn't look like we'll be getting back today." Ranma said to the group exiting the cave, the sun threatening to peak over the mountains in the distance.

"I guess we'll have to return to Avalon tomorrow." Angela noted.

"Until tonight." Goliath knelt down on one knee, the sun finally raised up, causing the trio of born gargoyles to turn to stone, and for him to change back into human form.

"Man, there are times I wish I could do that." Ranma straightened out his shirt, and sat down against the wall next to the cave entrance. Now that the monument had been destroyed, the area no longer made him feel uneasy. Brushing some dirt off the bottoms of his feet, he noticed Elisa taking a seat against Goliath.

"So what didn't he tell us?" She asked, pulling her leather jacket tighter around her body.

"Nothing important." He answered, getting back up. "I'm going to go get some firewood, do you have a lighter or something?"

"Can't say I do." Elisa made a show of searching her jacket pockets.

"Alright, well－ how about you go look for some good rocks to strike together so I can get it started?"

"I can do that." Elisa nodded as he headed off for the tree line across the rocky slope.

When he returned a half hour later with his arms loaded with wood, he found that Elisa had piled a fairly sizable mound of stones to choose from. Dropping his load unceremoniously on the ground, he hurriedly brushed off the rock that had been poking into his toe for the entire walk back. "Awww, that's better!"

"You need some shoes." Elisa noted casually.

"I think they're back at Xanatos'." He replied, digging through the rocks, and knocking them together, looking for something that might make a spark.

"I'd like to help, but I'm a city girl." Elisa knelt down next to where he was busy trying to create a fire.

"Never too late to learn, here, blow on this when I make a spark."

An hour later, he had gotten a nice fire going to help stave off the cold. This part of Scotland didn't seem to get much snow, and that rain last night had washed away what little there was. That however didn't stop it from being dreadfully cold.

"Ranma." Elisa started from across the fire. "You have a family right? In Japan?"

"Of course." He answered, wiggling his toes next to the warmth.

"You were in New York for a while, why didn't you go back to them?"

"It's complicated." He crossed his arms, and hugged himself.

"The gargoyle thing?" She supplied sadly.

"Actually, at first it was because I didn't have any money." He smiled, gazing into the fire. "Then it was－ the human thing."

"Human－ thing?"

"I didn't want to go back, just to have him do what he already did." Sighing, he wondered what his old man would think of him now.

"What did he do?"

"Just drop it." He snapped angrily, causing Elisa to jump in shock. "Sorry."

"No, I should be apologizing." Elisa waved off his outburst. "I must be thinking of my brother Derek, or I guess his name is Talon now."

"You want to explain that one?" Ranma raised an eyebrow.

"In a way he's like you, Xanatos used him as an experiment to create gargoyles."

"Mr. Xanatos did what?" He asked in disbelief.

"Mr. Xanatos." Elisa replied hatefully. "Used genetic modification to turn him into a creature like a gargoyle. There's no possiblity that he'll ever change back, and I was worried for the longest time that when our parents met him again, they would react－ unfavorably. But they didn't, they saw past what he had become, and saw the real him." Elisa wiped away some tears that were falling.

"Yea, well my old man, after gaining a curse to become a panda, let me walk away with Demona, without saying a word. So I'm not expecting much." He said in response to her confession.

"That's a very Demona like answer." Elisa said after a minute of silence.

"And she wasn't wrong about everything." He sniped back.

"And she pulled the same trick with Brooklyn, filled his head so full of half truths that Goliath nearly ended up a mindless slave!"

"When's the last time you had someone treat you like an animal huh?" Ranma stood up angrily. "When's the last time you had to hide because someone might see you? When's the last time you saw a paper or news report calling for you to be hunted down? Demona maybe wrong about how she did things, but she was right－ humans can't be trusted."

Elisa stared at him, her brown eyes unreadable. "How can you say that? You're just as human as I am."

"If there's fate, that means I was supposed to become a gargoyle. Seems like being born human was a mistake." Sitting down roughly, he had effectively ended the conversation.

X x x x x x

"Did something happen while we were asleep?" Goliath asked, looking between Ranma and Elisa, a small fire dying between them. Ranma had the stern and calculating look that he remembered on Demona long ago. While Elisa was giving Ranma the cold shoulder.

"Just a long day." Elisa answered.

"Then we should get moving." He held out a hand for Elisa. "With the weather clear, we can fly back to the boats. Ranma, would you mind carrying Bronx?" Picking up the human with his right arm, he started to climb the wall next to the cave entrance.

"Yea I can do that." Ranma answered. "Come on you." He patted Bronx on the side, the two along with Angela started to scale the wall.

While flying back to the skiffs in the caves underneath the former Castle Wyvern, Elisa shifted in his arms, and brought her face closer to his ear. "I don't know if we can trust Ranma." She whispered.

"What do you mean?" He asked, careful to keep his voice too low for Ranma to hear.

"This morning, we were talking. I think that Demona really got to him."

"I know." He looked over at Angela who was trying to chat with Ranma. Goliath wasn't stupid, he could see that Angela was interested in the human turned gargoyle. For the moment though, it seemed one sided. Whether or not that was a good thing, he didn't know. But he could not let another be infected by Demona's ideals. Until he was sure on where Ranma stood, he would have to separate the two. "When we get back I'll talk to him."

X x x x x x

After a short trip to Avalon, where Ranma had received some food with the rest of his group, they set off once again to try and return to Manhattan. Only close to an hour had elapsed for those on Avalon, yet they had the majority of repairs completed to the castle. They certainly didn't stay long, since they didn't want to waste night, and be stuck waiting for the natural gargoyles to sleep.

He wasn't too sure about it, but he couldn't help but feel that Goliath was trying to distance him from everyone else. Which was fine by him, since at the moment he wanted a little solitude. So, here he was pushing his own boat forward with a long oar, while Angela, Elisa, Bronx, and Goliath occupied another.

"I probably should have asked this before, but what is this－ Manhattan like?" Angela asked from her place at the front of the other skiff.

"Imagine an island several times the size of Avalon, and it is covered with an endless city." Goliath tried to communicate the concept.

"And what's a city?" She asked inquisitively.

"Well, it has roads stretching from one side of the island to the other. Towers of glass and steel that rise up higher than the clouds." Elisa stood up in the center of her boat and reached as high as she could. "And it's filled with millions of people."

"Wow!" Angela spun on her bench and looked across the water, to look at him. "Are you going to be living with us as well?"

"Me?" He asked, pushing the boat again with the oar. "I'm not sure what I'll do now. Guess I'll try and head back to Japan." Elisa gave him a suspicious glance, which he promptly ignored.

"Where's Japan? Is it close?"

"It's on the other side of the world Angela." Elisa said for him.

"Oh, so it's a little too far to fly."

"What will you do in Japan, Ranma?" Goliath asked him.

"Dunno, find my old man I guess. I guess I did tell him I would be back."

"And then what?" Angela asked innocently.

"No clue." None of his traveling companions for the moment, needed to know that he was going to find out the truth about his mother, and probably bounce his father around till he felt better. Glancing around, the fog they were in started to get thicker. "Does this stuff ever end?"

"It didn't take this long before." Elisa answered.

"Bring the boats closer together." Goliath commanded, and gave a few powerful strokes with his oar to try and bring the two skiffs together.

"If you stopped moving away, we wouldn't have to!" He called over to the lavender gargoyle and rapidly swung his oar. Finding with each stroke, that the two boats moved further and further away from each other. "Knock it off Goliath!" He yelled as the other skiff was swallowed up by the fog, and the last thing he heard was his name being called by the trio and a howl from Bronx.

"Fine time for a joke you big idiot!" He yelled, charging through the water, and finding no trace of the rest of his group. "Where did they go?" Looking around, he couldn't see anything through the thick fog, even the front of the skiff was hard to see.

The front of his skiff suddenly jumped upwards, and he was thrown to the floor. All the fog lifted in an instant, blinding him with a bright fluorescent light. When the skiff rocked to the side, he went tumbling off of it to fall face down on a tiled floor. Groaning, he got into a kneeling position, and tried to see past the spots in his vision.

"Now where am I?"

"Um excuse me." A soft feminine voice answered his question in Japanese, and he turned to find a girl a couple years his senior against the far side of a bath, her hands held in front of her to protect her modesty.

"Uh, listen, I'm not sure how I got in here, but there's an explanation." He tried to sound as friendly as possible, standing up and backing away.

"Tengu-san, could you please wait outside in the hall?"

"Oh, yea, sure sorry to intrude on your bath." Bowing his head he quickly exited the furo room into a changing room. 'Wait, what am I doing?' Out in the hall, he closed the door behind him. 'Looks like I'm back in Japan, did Avalon send me here?'

Out in the hall there was a doorway to the outside that was closed, and outside it was a heavy downpour of rain. 'Where you need to be.' He sat down, hoping that it would make him seem less intimidating to the poor girl he had dropped in on. Drawing little circles on the floor with his tail, he thought about the matter.

The sound of feet impacting the floor caught his ears, and he watched a girl his age walk around the corner. She had long dark blue hair, a cute enough face, and was wearing a long yellow dress. When she saw him, she stopped instantly, and blinked several times.

"Hi." He greeted lamely and waved a hand. The girls eyes looked down to his feet, and then slowly traveled upwards to his head, before going back down again. Staring ahead blankly, she turned and headed back around the corner. "That was weird." Scratching near his temple, he wondered why the girl hadn't done anything.

His question was answered a moment later, when an ear shattering scream echoed down the hall. "And here we go." Not that he could blame them for being weirded out over his sudden arrival in their home, but why was the initial response to his gargoyle form to point and scream? When the girl reappeared running around the corner, he revised that comment, she was going to try and kill him! Raised above the girls head was a heavy stone lantern.

Maneuvering in the small corner of the hall, he got to his feet, and dodged to the side at the last second, letting the girl break through the floor as she brought it down. "You're going to hurt somebody like that." He explained calmly, she was too slow to catch him, but she seemed pretty strong.

With another scream, she started to try and punch and kick him. "Whoa." Dancing out of the way of her strikes, he tried the door to the outside, and found it open. So he was able to escape outside into the rain. The girl didn't stop, charging out after him, and continuing to attack him. "I'm going to leave as soon as I can get my boat, just stop attacking me!

Leaping on top of the large wall surrounding the home, he was out of her reach long enough to shift his wings from around his shoulders to over his head to act as an umbrella. "What's your problem?" He asked and moved further down the wall when she was able to climb up on it herself.

"You did something terrible to Kasumi!"

"I didn't do anything." He replied, guessing that Kasumi was the girl in the furo.

"You were going to do something terrible!" She cried without missing a beat, clumsily storming across the top of the fence to reach him.

"Ranma is that you?"

Turning back to look at the door he had left the home through, he saw Genma and Nodoka, along with another girl, and an older man with a mustache. "Pop?" He asked just in time to be punched in the face.

Knocked from the wall, he rolled several times on the ground, before coming to a rest. "Ugh, you stupid tomboy." He mumbled, and got to his feet.

"Saotome-ojisama do you know this－ demon?" The crazy girl asked.

"Well Ranma's under a curse too." Genma answered while nervously glancing at Nodoka. "Come inside boy, stop playing in the rain."

"Oh my what's going on here?" The Kasumi girl asked after coming out of the furo, dressed in a conservative night gown, and surveying the broken floor.

"Kasumi you're alright." The angry girl ran in and stood protectively in front of the elder.

"Perhaps we should hear an explanation Saotome-kun?" The mustached man asked Genma.

Narrowing his eyes, Ranma didn't know why Genma and Nodoka were here. 'Where you need to be.' He thought, finding Avalon's sense of humor to be rather poor. Caping his wings, he heading in out of the rain.

"I knew you'd come back!" Genma said cheerfully, and wrapped his arms around Ranma's shoulder, to direct him further into the home.

'This probably isn't the best form to make a first impression.' Entering into a living room, Genma wasted no time in shoving him to the floor. Sitting on his backside, he wondered what Genma had told this family. Better yet, why was Genma and Nodoka even here? From what little he remembered of the first time he had met his mother, this was not the same home.

He felt like a fish out of water surrounded by the group of humans. Genma was the only one who didn't look at him with a mix of shock and astonishment, and that was because he was too busy being nervous. The angry girl was still glaring at him, Nodoka alternated between shock and angry glares at Genma. The man with a mustache had a very strained smile on his face and alternating that with dark glances at Genma. The final occupant was a dark brown haired girl with a page boy haircut who was rapidly digging in a bag. She seemed to more excited than any other emotion.

"Here's a towel Tengu-san." The girl from the bath said pleasantly and handed him a towel, all the while smiling absently. Once he had got one, another was handed to the angry girl.

"Thanks, and it's Ranma." Opening up the towel, he started the task of getting rid of the water, which thankfully didn't stick to his wings.

"Son." Nodoka started. "How did this happen?"

"Same way Genma becomes a panda, Jusenkyo."

"So hot water will return you to normal?"

"Nope." Wiping off his face, he bought some time to figure out how to tell them. "My－ curse, was changed so that I change at sunset and dawn." The bright flash of a camera stopped anything else he might have said, and all eyes turned to the girl with the page boy haircut, who took another picture. "Ya mind?" He glared at the girl.

"Not at all." She said excitedly and snapped off another picture.

"Nabiki that isn't nice." Kasumi admonished the girl, who reluctantly put her camera away, but made a motion with her hand like she was taking a picture, and mouth to him the word 'later.'

"So you won't change back until morning, how did that happen son?" Nodoka asked.

"Magic." He answered, earning a disapproving look from Nodoka. "What are you doing here?" He asked Genma.

"I suppose introductions are in order." The mustached man said happily distracting everyone from his question. "Seems your problem isn't so bad." Genma suddenly stopped the man and dragged him away to whisper rapidly in his ear. The two elder men finally broke from their huddle, and turned back to the rest.

"Welcome to my home Ranma, I'm Tendo Soun, and this is my family." Moving over behind the three girls, the old man smiled brightly. "This is Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane, pick whichever one OOF!" Soun stopped because Genma had elbowed him in the gut.

"Nice to meet you, sorry about barging in and all." He bowed his head politely.

"And we're here because of you son." Nodoka picked up on his question. "When you left last time, a fire was started. Thankfully, the Tendo's have agreed to let us stay here until our home can be rebuilt."

"Fire?" He gulped. "That didn't happen right after I left using the Gate did it?"

"It's alright son, our insurance covered everything. And Genma here was able to get most of our things out before the house was lost."

"Don't you mean your things dear?" Genma said, coughing lightly.

"Well if you had anything left at the home, you could have saved those too."

"Sorry, I've seen someone walk through the Phoenix flame before and they didn't get burned, so I thought it was just a light show." Scratching the back of his head, he had royally screwed up by using the Phoenix Gate inside.

"That's interesting and all, but what are you?" The angry girl demanded.

"Gargoyle." Nabiki answered, drawing his attention. "What?" the girl asked with a shrug. "One of my－ associates, pays through the nose to get some tabloid from America that runs stories about a supposed group that lives in New York City."

"Heh heh, New York you say?" He laughed nervously. 'Oh man I hope there aren't any pictures of me floating around in some stupid paper.'

"Wait a minute." Nabiki leaned over the table in the center of the room to study him intently. "You look familiar for some reason. Have you ever been on tv?"

"No I haven't." He crossed his arms.

"Are you sure? No wait! It was a woman who looked just like you, same blue skin, brighter red hair though. You know that whole thing the media tried to pass off as mass hysteria two months ago. As a gargoyle do you know others? How about her?"

"Yes I know her, and I'd rather not talk about it." He answered gruffly, his answer eliciting Nabiki to raise an eyebrow. "I'm sorry to ask, but is there someplace I could get some rest? I haven't gotten much sleep in the past couple days."

"Right this way Ranma-san." Kasumi stood and held out a hand for the towel.

"Sure." Handing her the towel, Ranma followed the girl out of the family room, and to the left. Behind the angry girl followed, with the excited camera one shortly after. Passing a kitchen, and what he thought was the front door, she took him up some steps. At the top of the steps was a large room, that if the smell was any indication, Genma lived here.

"This is the room your parents are staying in."

"Thanks, and uh listen, I'm really sorry about what happened earlier. All I know is that I was in the middle of this fog aboard that boat, and bam I'm hitting the side of your furo."

"It's alright Ranma-san, after all you're not human, so there's no harm." Continuing to smile obliviously, the girl spun on her heel and headed back down the steps, passing both of her sisters on the way.

"The furo?" Akane asked, speeding after her sister. "What do you mean the furo Kasumi?"

The only one who didn't leave him alone, was Nabiki, who remained smiling at him in a predatory manner. Turning towards the room, he glanced back long enough to see that she hadn't moved, before going inside the room and flicking on the light. Off to the side were two futons, one rolled up neatly, the other sloppily folded. 'Guess that's Genma's.'

"Ranma-kun." A lilting female voice called from the door.

"Yeah?" Giving the girl a tired glance, he setup the futon. "Nabiki is it?"

"Just wondering how long you plan to stay?" She asked.

"Don't worry, I'll be gone as soon as I get some sleep." Yawning, he wished that she would just go away and shut off the light.

"I'm sure dear old daddy will let you stay as long as you wish, so don't worry about that. But there is something else I'll talk to you about tomorrow. Night!" Flicking off the light, she left to go back down the steps, though she forgot to close the door.

"Whatever."

X x x x x x

"Saotome-kun, why did you stop me from telling him?" Soun asked his long time training partner and friend.

"He's already ran off twice, we shouldn't tempt fate." The bald martial artist next to him answered.

"But surely he wouldn't run out on an honorable obligation like uniting the schools?" He questioned.

"Before he met that crazy tengu woman, I would have agreed with you. But I think his cursed form has done things to his head."

"Really? If that's true, shouldn't we－ look for a cure?" He asked, that demon form that Ranma had was certainly something that would throw the engagement in jeopardy. Although Nabiki did seem interested in the boy for some reason.

"The Guide said that no cures were known, and when we went through a village of fighting women, I never got to ask."

"But he's already changed the curse somehow, surely it wouldn't be that hard to have it removed, or even change how it changes him made into something that never happens." He theorized. If it could be changed from water to the motions of the sun, maybe it could be changed to something out of the way.

"Very true, I'll have to grill the boy and find out how he did it. Till then, let's wait to tell him about the engagement. I mean, you have three lovely daughters, I'm sure nature will take it's course."

"Quite right Saotome!"

"Of course Tendo-kun, I'm a genius afterall!"

X x x x x x

Waking up, Ranma felt someone dragging him by the back of his shirt. His mind flashed back to when Macbeth was attempting to kill him, and he acted in an instant. Planting his hands, he kicked out his attackers legs, and pushed off with his hands to jump up into the air. Reaching the apex of his jump, in time with his attacker starting to fall, he buried his elbow in their stomach, driving them to the floor. Bouncing away, he landed in a stance, prepared for any further attacks.

"Ouch boy." Genma wheezed from the floor. Ranma blinked several times and realized that he was still in the large room his parents had been staying in at the Tendos. Genma had apparently be dragging him towards an open window. Glancing out, he saw a moderately sized koi pond, and was able to put the two together.

"I prefer not to be thrown off things when I lack wings, actually, I don't like to be thrown off things period." He crossed his arms, and then smiled maliciously. A moment later, Genma landed in the pond, and Ranma felt like had just started the day off right. Even though it was still raining out.

Yawning, he considered trying to get more sleep, but his stomach growling ended that thought, which meant he would have to find food some other way. Considering he had no money, he would have to ask the Tendo's. Taking his time going downstairs, he wondered how he should handle this situation. His parents were mooching on this family, so it might be alright if he did as well, at least until he figured out what he wanted to do.

"It's so nice to see my manly son again." Nodoka said happily from the kitchen door, drawing him from his thoughts.

"Oh, uh good morning－ Mother." He greeted hesitantly.

"I thought your father was going to wake you up?" She questioned.

"He decided to take a cool bath."

"Hopefully he doesn't track water through the house again. But enough about him, breakfast will be ready, please have a seat in the family room." Nodoka ducked back into the kitchen, leaving him alone.

That saved him from having to ask for food, and at the specified room, he found Soun sitting and reading a paper. Seeing Ranma arrive, the mustached man gave him a once over, before giving him a large grin. "Good morning Ranma, sleep well?"

"Good, thanks for not－ freaking out over me last night. Humans never really have the best reaction to that form." He scratched at the base of his ponytail. "Usually they act like I'm some kind of monster." Laughing to himself, he took a seat at the table, as far from the man as possible. "Surprised the old man even bothered to say anything actually." Ranma half expected the panda cursed man to let that crazy girl attack him.

#You wound me boy!# Genma signed, waddling into the room as a panda. #And I bet you've been# Flip #Slacking off#

"Been busy with other things."

#What?# An urgently shooken sign appeared in his face.

"Just drop it old man." He smacked the sign out of his face.

"Good morning." Akane stopped in the door way, dressed in a blue school uniform, her eyes quickly finding him. "What's he doing here?" she asked slowly.

"Akane you should be nicer to our guest." Soun answered the girl, and she sat down with a cross look on her face.

"When are you going to get that boat out of the furo?" Akane asked angrily. "And how did you get it in there anyways?"

"Magic." He answered with a smile, causing the angry girls face to turn red. A sign impacting the back of his head, made him glare at Genma. "What was that for old man?"

#Be nice to your possible# Genma went to write something on the other side but stopped. #Just be nice!#

"Ya know Pop, I kind of like you as a panda, it means I don't have to listen to you whine, I can just not read those signs."

"Breakfast." Kasumi announced as she and Nodoka interrupted him from tearing into the panda. The two women came in and set down some food. "Oh my, is Nabiki not up yet? Akane could you go get her please?"

"Sure." Giving him one last glare, Akane left the room to retrieve her sister.

Ranma fidgeted while kneeling next to the table. He wasn't exactly threatened by the presence of so many humans, he just felt uncomfortable. Like an outsider sitting in, on a place that he shouldn't be. Forgetting that he had suddenly lost over a month of time, his life had become about avoiding humans. Even being up at this time of day was an oddity. Usually he went to sleep in the morning, and woke lunch to mid afternoon.

When Akane returned with Nabiki, the two were bickering about something. "Honestly Nabiki, I don't know what kind of game you're playing."

"Oh hush Akane, I can't get dressed in the morning?" Nabiki knelt down next to Soun, dressed in the same school uniform as Akane.

"Not when I know 'why' you're getting up early." Akane fumed.

"And why am I dear sister?" Nabiki propped herself on the table with an elbow.

"To－ well－ you just－ oh shut up." Akane crossed her arms in a huff, choosing to glare angrily at him.

It felt like forever since the last time he had eaten a Japanese breakfast, and he thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. He did not miss how Nodoka watched him out of the corner of her eye, as she ate. Or how Soun would look at him with an excited gleam when he thought he wasn't looking.

"Ranma-kun." Nabiki drew his attention when he set down a bowl. "Would you mind walking with me to school today?"

Before Ranma could figured out a response, he found himself shoved out of the door with Nabiki, and a single large umbrella to share between them, by the two fathers. Blinking several times, the door closing loudly behind him, made him wonder if there was something he didn't know going on. "So what was that about?" He asked, trying to get ot the bottom of it.

"I'll explain on the way." Nabiki checked her brown leather book back, before taking several steps forward, nearly moving out of the protective range of the umbrella. "Well?" She asked expectantly.

"Oh." Shrugging, he walked beside her out the gate, and down the street. "So?"

"Actually it has to deal with what I wanted to talk to you about last night." Nabiki started casually. "Because apparently, before any of us were born, our father's made an honor pact for their children to get married."

"WHAT?" He yelled, spinning around to go give his old man a piece of his mind, and probably a healthy dose of his fist.

"Hold it!" Nabiki grabbed his shirt to stop him. "Don't just go rushing in yelling like an idiot."

"Hmm, you're right." He nodded, thinking that Nabiki had a Demona-like quality to her. "Just one more reason I'll leave tonight." He remarked, starting to walk with her again.

"Why? Stick around." Nabiki suggested.

"Why would I do that?"

"Why not milk the situation for all it's worth? Daddy seems set on the whole thing, so if you play along, then you could probably get room and board till you're twenty."

"Nah." He replied, taking a moment to look at the buildings around him. There were some taller buildings in the area, but most were one to three stories. Certainly a boring landscape to go flying around. The center of Tokyo would be fun to explore though. "This place is no good for flying."

"So those wings aren't just for show." Nabiki surmised. "Ever take on passengers?"

"You want me to take you flying is that it?"

"Can you blame me for being curious?"

"I'll think about it." He answered, twisting his head around to see Akane hurrying up after them with an umbrella in hand.

"Honestly!" The girl exclaimed angrily. "What is wrong with them?"

"Don't you have your fanclub to deal with?" Nabiki asked, diverting the angry girl's attention. Akane's eyes narrowed at Nabiki, before she took off running.

"So what's that about?" He asked, watching the girl go.

"Actually, it's really funny. This idiot who goes to our school made this decree that the only way a boy could date my sister, is if they first beat her in combat. So she plows through about half of the guys in her class every morning."

"I'm actually not sure how I should feel about that." He commented, arriving close enough to what he assumed was the school, to see Akane beating up a group of untrained guys dressed in various athletic uniforms.

"Just ignore it, and try not to get involved." Nabiki stepped daintily over several downed forms. "Especially with Kuno, he's got issues."

"Halt!" A male voice yelled, stepping out from behind a tree was a tall boy dressed in kendo garb, and in his right hand was a wooden boken.

"Speaking of Kuno, here he is now." Nabiki said it as if the boy was a huge joke.

"Mercenary Nabiki, who is this knave that you have brought to these hallowed halls?" Kuno asked while advancing.

"This? This is just Ranma-kun, he was just escorting me to school." Nabiki answered.

"Hrm." Kuno took a moment to size him up. "I see, very well then, I shall allow you to escort the mercenary Nabiki unmolested."

"How lenient of you." Ranma replied, narrow his eyes at the older boy.

"You return my graciousness with sarcasm?" Kuno raised his voice and wooden sword.

"Hey! This is my fight, stay out of it." Akane growled at him, having finished with her attackers.

"Whatever you want." He answered. "See ya." Now that Nabiki was at school, he could leave this crazy school.

"Akane I would date with you!" Kuno yelled happily behind him. Shaking his head, Ranma really didn't want to know what was going on.

X x x x x x

Umbrella overhead, Ranma walked on top of a green chainlink fence bordering a canal. His feet were growing numb from touching the cool metal, but he didn't have any shoes, and felt no desire to return to the Tendo home. The knowledge of what his father was planning, weighed heavily on his mind. It certainly explained why Soun was being so nice to him. The man wasn't being nice out of the goodness of his heart, he wanted something from him.

Pausing, he listened to the rain patter against the polyester material. 'If either of them think they can control me like the sisters did, they have another thing coming.' He thought darkly, deciding that he would head back and tell Genma how things were going to be. Slipping for a moment, he amended that plan, he'd raid his old man for money. Coming to the end of the fence, he hopped down to continue on the concrete.

"Ranma!" A voice called from above, looking up Ranma found a form dropping down on top of him. Bouncing out of the way, the other boy landed heavily in a crouch, a red wooden umbrella raised above his head. "Still good at running I see."

"Do I know you?" He asked, scratching the side of his head. The face was vaguely familiar, as was the yellow bandana, but that was the limit to his recognition. "Wait a minute, now I remember you! You're um, that is to say, you're, ah man it's on the tip of my tongue. You were at my old high school."

"Before I kill you Ranma." The boy interrupted him. "Tell me, why did you run out on our duel?"

"Duel? Now I know who you are, you're Hibiki Ryoga." Throwing his umbrella upwards for a second, he smacked his right fist into his left palm, he had solved the mystery, before catching the umbrella again. "Long time no see, how ya been?"

"Answer my question!" Ryoga shouted.

"But Ryoga, I waited three days for you to show up."

"Yes and when I came on the fourth, you had already run away." Ryoga angrily exclaimed, stomping a foot.

"Yea, bout that, why did it take you four days to get there?" Ranma put his free hand in his pants pocket. "The lot was only like half a kilometer from your house."

"Bastard! Do you think I was out for a leisurely stroll those four days? I suffered to meet with you!" Ryoga growled at him.

Ranma just rolled his eyes, up until today, he had thought that the whole thing was done and over with. It wasn't like Ryoga could actually beat him in a fight. As tough and pig headed as the lost boy was, he just wasn't up to Ranma's level.

"So I take it you want to have another fight?" He asked.

"Fight? No, we're long past that Ranma. This is revenge!" Ryoga charged forward.

Ranma avoided a front kick by stepping to the side. "You mind waiting till it's not raining? I'd rather remain dry."

"Shut up Ranma! It's because of you that I have to fear the tiniest drop of water." Ryoga answered his question with a punch.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, unconcerned by Ryoga's rage, and jumping over a kick, allowing Ryoga's leg to pass harmlessly beneath him.

"Thanks to you, I've seen hell!" Ryoga kicked at him several times, to which he simply backed away, and avoided a follow up swing from Ryoga's umbrella before it was hastily raised back above his head.

"Hell?" Hopping up on to the green fence again, Ryoga followed.

"You think words can convey the depths of my suffering?" Ryoga bellowed and Ranma counter attacked with a foot to Ryoga's face, making the lost boy stagger back.

"You look fine to me." He landed back on the fence. Ryoga was obviously exaggerating, the guy had no clue what suffering meant. "And I'm done here." Rushing forward, he dodged a kick by jumping upwards and flipping over Ryoga. Before the other boy could react, Ranma had struck him in the face with a punch, sending Ryoga to crash into the concrete of the street below. "Nice to see you again." He waved as he bounded off, leaving Ryoga.

X x x x x x

"Let's see, from here to here." Ranma finished cutting a vertical slit in the back of a pair of slightly baggy jeans he had bought. The usually painful process of getting money from Genma was surprisingly easy, Nodoka had thrown in her opinion that he needed clothes, and Genma had fallen apart like a house of cards.

"I really wish you wouldn't cut up your clothing." Nodoka hovered over his shoulder worriedly.

"It's this or tearing them up when I change." He shrugged. At least he had found a place that sold the same kind of Chinese shirts that he had been wearing. Setting the jeans aside, he pulled out a black shirt, and started to create the holes that would allow his wings to go through.

"I guess."

Rolling his eyes, he ignored the fidgeting woman. It seemed that his initial opinion of Nodoka had been rather skewed. So long as she wasn't commenting on manliness, she was actually nice, distant and uptight, but nice. Actually it was probably how uptight she was that made him weary. Demona may have been cold and calculating, but underneath she was driven by emotions. Genma had always been a man ruled by his urges. Nodoka seemed scripted though, as if she had a programmed response for everything.

"Hmm, I wonder." Grabbing a red shirt, he split the back section.

"Why did you do that?" Nodoka asked.

"Just trying something. I noticed with the rest of my clothes that the back tends to go to one side or the other. Pretty much all the gargoyles I've met have something like this cut in the back."

"There are more?" Nodoka asked worriedly.

"Well yea, they're a species." He rolled his eyes.

"How many have you met?" His mother asked.

"Personally or if I was just be around them?"

"In total."

Dropping his current project, he had to think about that. "There were a few dozen at Castle Wyvern, about the same on Avalon, so about sixty. Why do you ask?"

"I admit I'm slighty curious. It's not everyday that you learn about a new species of intelligent creatures. So why haven't I heard of them outside of mythology?"

"Because humans have hunted gargoyles to extinction." He answered, letting a small amount of anger enter his voice, and remembering that Demona had said the same thing to him before.

"That doesn't sound right, I'm sure that there must be another reasonable explanation for it, if it even happened at all."

Ranma turned to look at Nodoka, hoping that she was actually joking about that. What he found was that she was off in her own little world, examining a the stitching on a shirt that he had modified. "Are you serious?" He asked.

"Well of course, humans aren't monsters." Nodoka answered calmly.

"Sounds like you're the expert." He gathered up all of his clothing, and sewing supplies borrowed from Kasumi, and went to go finish somewhere else, leaving a confused Nodoka in his wake.

X x x x x x

"What are you doing here?"

"Sitting." He answered, watching the rain fall outside. Ranma was sitting inside the Tendo dojo. There was nothing particularly special about the place, like a hundred or so other training halls that he had visited during his life. Earlier he had gotten in some practice time, trying to clear his head.

Why exactly had he been so worked up over Nodoka's questioning earlier? Nothing she had asked was any worse than the things he had asked Demona. Even with her short fuse, she hadn't really snapped at him like that. Something about being around people again, normal humans specifically, was grating on his nerves.

Which wasn't right, the Tendo's had been nice to him so far, even if Soun and Genma were plotting to marry him off to one of the three sisters. He should have more patience, they deserved that much for not freaking out when he showed up last night. They shouldn't be expected to know things that took him weeks and months to learn.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Akane all but screamed in his face.

"Eh, what do you want?" He asked, using a pinky to wipe imaginary gunk from his ear.

"How about a little match?" The Tendo girl asked sweetly, her eyes singing a different tune.

"Sure I guess." Shrugging, he rose to his feet, and faced off against the girl. Akane had arrived back at the home approximately ten minutes ago, and had changed into a white gi. He on the other hand, only had a pair of black pants and a gray tank top on.

"So you've been training on the road?" Akane asked, taking an aggressive stance.

"It's all I remember." He replied, standing calmly with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Then I bet you think you're pretty good?"

"I'm very good." He answered.

"Then let's find out!" Akane stepped forward and threw out a punch with her right hand.

Easily avoiding the blow, he stepped forward and to the outside of her arm. "Decent punch." He commented, Akane pulled back her arm and swung towards him with her opposing leg in an attempt to knee him. Taking a step to his left, Ranma watched Akane's attack fumble, and the girl stumbled trying to regain her balance.

"You're kind of clumsy aren't you?" He asked, earning a side kick from Akane, which he ducked under. Rolling to the side into a crouch, he avoided the youngest Tendo who had turned the side kick into an ax kick, attempting to bring her foot down on top of his head.

"Not bad, but you're way too slow."

"I'll show you slow!" Akane charged forward with a telegraphed kick. Rolling backwards into a hand stand, he picked up one hand just to increase the difficulty in remaining vertical. "What's the matter? Attack me!" Akane yelled and planted a foot in an attack he couldn't see. Tucking his legs in, he spun on his hand, and swept out Akane's feet, sending the girl crashing awkwardly to the floor.

Bouncing back to his feet, he favored the girl with a disgusted look, and crossed his arms. Akane sat on the floor rubbing her backside, and completely open to any attack. "Man, I'd rather not train, than spar with you." Spinning on his heel, he wanted to go get something to drink.

"Why you!" Akane growled and he heard the rapid patter of heavy footsteps as she stormed up to him from behind.

Turning, he found her directing a hay maker at his face, so he started to bring his hand up to catch the punch. Power pooled at his fingertips, and he realized almost too late what was about to happen. Behind Akane, four slashes, a two meters long, broke cleanly through the building, and continued on to dig deeply into the wall surrounding the home.

"Oops."

"What was that?" A stunned Akane asked, turning to see the damage he had done to the wall.

"Phew that was close." Letting out a worried breath, the one good thing to come from that, was that he had finally found the trigger. "You alright?"

Akane's wide eyed gaze went from the wall, to him, and then to his hands. "I think－ I'm going to go change my underpants now."

X x x x x x

"Man, what am I supposed to do with this thing?" Ranma scratched the side of his head and look at the long skiff he had arrived on. The rain outside had finally stopped, or at least gave a temporary reprieve from its downpour. Being bored as he was, he had pulled the boat from the furo, and placed it on the koi pond.

It also worked as a reminder. Avalon sent you where you needed to be, at least where it thought you needed to be. So why had it sent him here? Why to Scotland had become obvious within an hour. Was he supposed to do something for the people here? Or was this the direction his life was supposed to go?

"Ahh I hate this fate crap!" He growled. Was he supposed to stay? Or was he supposed to do something and then leave? Maybe a third option, Avalon was full of it and he should just do whatever he wanted.

Underneath the skiff, small bubbles spread out to cover the entire surface of the pond. Before he could grab the skiff, it sunk beneath the water, disappearing from sight. "Oh come on!" He shouted, prowling around the edge of the pond. "Now how am I supposed to get back to Avalon?"

"Is something wrong Son?"

"Urk." He jerked, skidding to a stop on a wet stone surrounding the pond.

"Did that boat just sink into the pond?" Nodoka asked from the doorway into the home.

"Yea." He answered, calming himself down. Getting angry wasn't going to get him anywhere. "Now I need to get it back." Taking a deep breath, he raised his right hand, with the palm facing the pond.

"Ex rege Avalonis, addo ut mihi a navis, sic transporto ut isle." He commanded, his words having a strange echo to them. The water bubbled and the front and rear posts of the skiff rose from the liquid. In a few short seconds, the skiff had returned, and sat obediently on the water, waiting for a passenger. "I wonder if that works on any water." He mused.

"Very impressive." Nodoka gave him several polite claps of her hands. "So is this why you went on your training trip without your father?"

"Well no it wasn't the reason, but I guess I fell into it." He answered, pulling the skiff off the pond, just in case the incantation wouldn't work later.

"Can you do anything else?" The Saotome woman asked. "Hopefully not that fire thing again though."

"No, or at least nothing that's useful." He lied, he could always travel to Avalon with a spell, and if he actually had the Grimorum or the Phoenix Gate he could do a lot more.

"Son, I want to continue our talk from before." Nodoka fidgeted slightly with her kimono sleeve.

"Sure, I guess." Actually with how Nodoka looked, she must have figured out why he was upset. He could see it in his mind, she apologizes, asks for more information, Nodoka shows that she is a person underneath, and he can start to get to know his birth mother.

"It wasn't very manly for you to run away like that."

"Huh?" He asked lamely.

"You should not have gotten upset like that and run away, it wasn't very manly." Nodoka reiterated and he continued to stare dumbfoundedly at the woman. "In the future, I expect you to do better. Do you understand?"

"Anything else?" He asked, his eyes flashing white for a moment.

"No, that's it."

"I understand." He answered, watching the woman retreat into the home, before turning back to the boat. 'I'll leave later, see if the others found their way back to New York, and then.' Well he didn't know what he would do after that.

X x x x x x

"What are you doing old man?" Ranma asked, entering in the large room he had slept in last night, and finding his father rifling through the few possessions he had bought.

"Er－ nothing my boy." Genma straightened up and tried to look like he hadn't just been looking for valuables. "Just making sure you bought some good clothes with that money I gave you."

"If you were looking for the Phoenix Gate, I don't have it, and that bracelet is back in Manhattan last I knew." He explained, trying to stop any more attempts of theft.

"My own son thinks so lowly of his father!" Genma cried dramatically, even forcing several tears.

"Whatever." He snorted, having seen the display hundreds if not thousands of times.

"Worth a try." Genma shrugged and passed him to leave the room, stopping at the door way. "It's good to have you back boy."

"I won't be here for long." He answered, turning to his father.

"What are you talking about? You're not going to do that fire thing again are you?" Genma asked as a joke.

"Pop－ I'm serious, and I'm not sure if I'll ever come back." Taking a deep breath, he watched Genma's face turn serious, the elder Saotome realizing the implications.

"Ranma, you have obligations. Honor that must be fulfilled."

"The engagement you didn't tell me about?" He asked, finding a strange satisfaction in Genma's surprise. "That seppuku pledge?"

"Honor still has to be maintained." Genma repeated, audibly gulping, the bald man hoping that he would fold at the mention of honor.

"Does this honor pact come on a piece of paper with more fingerprints from a baby?" He asked, shoving his clothes into the plastic bag he had hauled them here in, and then tied the top closed.

"It was made before you were born, a solemn pact to unite the two schools."

"Before I could even know about it then." He gave Genma an angry look, resolving to leave as soon as possible. "Just like the Archmage and those sisters." The look he gave Genma caused the man to take a step back. "Bye－ Pop." Genma stepped to the side as he passed. Out in the yard, he threw the bag of clothes into the skiff, and pushed it until it sat half in, half out of the koi pond.

"Son, what are you doing?" Nodoka's voice asked him, the woman appearing next to him, a disapproving look on her face. "You shouldn't play in your boat, it looks like it will begin raining again soon."

"I'm leaving, not playing." He answered, not even turning to look at his mother.

"Another training trip?" She asked hopefully.

"No."

"Where then?"

"Somewhere away from here." He answered, pushing the boat fully into the water. Watching the skiff bounce off the far side and settle off to the left side, he closed his eyes, trying to figure out why this was being so difficult. He was hesitating, he could be gone ten times over by now, so what was he waiting for?

"Ranma!"

"Oh not again." He groaned, looking up to see Ryoga descending on his position once again, heavy red umbrella poised to splinter his skull. Ranma could easily move out of the way, except Nodoka was right next to him. "Damn." Gathering up Nodoka in his arms, he jumped clear of the landing zone, and deposited the woman next to the house. Back where he was, Ryoga slammed into the ground, burying his umbrella halfway into the ground.

"I found you." The lost boy sneered.

"Your timing sucks Ryoga, just like your sense of direction, and you almost hit someone else you idiot. What were you thinking?"

"Revenge doesn't wait." Ryoga ripped his umbrella from the ground.

"Revenge for what? Stealing bread that wasn't yours?"

"You think this is still about bread?" Ryoga laughed, reaching up and pulling several bandanas from his head. Ranma guessed at what Ryoga was going to do, and moved to the side, so that Nodoka, and now Genma and Soun, wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.

"Then what is this about? I know your an obsessive idiot, but this is going too far. I've done nothin to you."

"You really don't know?" Ryoga's anger fizzled.

"How could I? The last time I saw you was before you missed our duel." Now they were getting somewhere.

"I'll tell you this, after you ran out on our duel." Ryoga started, and Ranma heard Nodoka say something about that being unmanly. "I followed you to China!"

"So?" Looking away absently, he didn't think that was a reason to try and get revenge on someone. "Er, you didn't go to Jusenkyo did you? Does that mean you got a curse?"

"Enough words Ranma! Time to die!" Ryoga spun the bandanas held in his right hand, and then threw them like shurikens at him. Weaving through the barrage, he turned in time to see a tree behind him get cut down by the attack.

'Those aren't ordinary bandanas, and I can't let this go on too long.' Jumping up over a kick from Ryoga, he could feel the sun beginning to go down, it wouldn't be long before he changed, and while changing he'd be helpless. Grabbing Ryoga's leg with one hand, he twisted in mid air, planting both feet into Ryoga's face. Ryoga flew backwards to skid across the wet grass on his back.

"Not now!" He groaned as he started to change. "I just need some more time." Falling to all fours, he tried to keep himself in a position where he could defend if Ryoga attacked.

"You changed without water?" Ryoga stared blankly at him, his hand halted in the motion of pulling off his belt.

Finishing up, he pushed off with his hands and spread his wings, letting loose a loud roar, his eyes lighting up from a surge of adrenaline. Coming back to himself, he relaxed his stance, and caped his wings. "So you did go to Jusenkyo." He noted, stretching his shoulders for a second.

"How do you do it? Ryoga demand, snapping out his hand holding the belt, the material turning rigid, making a sword.

"I traveled halfway around the world, made a deal with a magical creature, who tricked me into it. Interested? I could try summoning him for you. I'm sure he'd have a field day with you."

"Make light of me will you!" Ryoga charged forward, his belt poised to strike. Stepping forward, Ranma grabbed Ryoga's wrist, twisting the lost boys arm outwards, and causing the belt to go limp.

"Knock it off idiot before I hurt you." He growled, planting a fist in Ryoga's stomach, Ryoga collapsing to his knees as all breath was driven from him, but still supported by Ranma's hold on his wrist.

"Hurt me?" Ryoga laughed, his head down. "I'm the one who's going to hurt you." Ryoga jumped upwards, and caught him under the chin with an uppercut. Knocked into the air, partially from the force of the blow, and because he had jumped at the last instant. Ranma opened his wings and directed himself to land next to the koi pond. Even before his feet touched the stone, Ryoga was upon him, belt returned to its sword-like status, and held over his head.

"Why does no one listen to me?" He growled, waving a hand upwards, and purposely trying to release energy at Ryoga's belt. The belt seperating into four pieces, the material hanging in the air, and Ryoga's cry of pain acting as an exclamation to what he had just done. The lost boy fell forward to his knees, clutching his face.

"Oh no!" Instantly he was over at Ryoga's side. "I didn't meant to do that! Are you alright?" He asked worriedly.

"My face!" Ryoga screamed, pushing him away with a hand, and then gave a few clumsy punches in an attempt to hit him.

"You pig headed idiot, enough fighting. We should bandage up your face."

"Monster! You'll pay for this!" Ryoga continued to throw punches at him.

"You're the idiot who started this fight." Catching Ryoga's outstretched arm, he started to spin, when he had enough speed, he released Ryoga, throwing him up and over the wall. "Moron! Go off and fix yourself then!" He yelled after the other teen.

"Moron!" He yelled again, far more frustrated with his own lack of control. What had he been thinking? Using a new technique like that? Ranma could very easily have cut Ryoga's head off with it.

"When did you－ learn to do that Ranma?" Genma asked him seriously, the bald martial artist keeping his distance.

Relaxing his body, he turned to see that the entire household had gathered. "About a day ago." He answered.

"And who was that boy, Son?" Nodoka asked. "While how you finished the fight was－ a bit much, you were very manly."

"Oh my, I hope the food isn't burning." Kasumi left to go to the kitchen.

"Ranma-kun." Nabiki said sweetly, padding out of the house, and grabbing his right wrist. "Come inside, I want to get to know my new fiance better." Ranma allowed the girl to lead him towards the door, his brain not really catching up to what she had just said.

"Wa-wait wha- what did you say?" He jabbered as she pulled him inside the living room.

"I've decided to accept the engagement." The brown haired girl smiled brightly.

"Nabiki!" Akane yelled as if her sister had just committed some unthinkable sin.

"You－ want to be engaged to me?" He asked, furrowing his brow in thought. What kind of game was she playing?

"Oh my son is so manly!" Nodoka cheered, clapping her hands together once. "I'm so happy for you son."

"But." He tried to protest.

"It's decided then, Ranma will marry Nabiki, oh my little girl's all grown up!" Soun started to cry tears of joy.

"Way to go boy, keep it up." Genma whispered to him.

"But." He sat down, looking around worriedly, the situation having changed so rapidly, he was unable to keep up.

Nabiki knelt next to him, taking one of his large hands in her own smaller ones, and looked into his eyes. "Am I－ not good enough?" She asked, lower lip quivering.

"You? I mean, why would you want something like that, with me? I'm a－." He caught himself. "I mean, I'm not always human."

"I'll admit that it's different." She answered, gently stroking the palm of his hand. "But I'm an open minded girl, I think we could make it work."

Pulling his hand free from her, he shuffled himself away from her. "I need to think."

"What's there to think about?" Soun asked, pushing him back up against Nabiki.

"Yea boy, this is for family honor!" Genma added, glancing nervously at Nodoka, who's smile looked like she should have been in a straight jacket.

Nabiki took the opportunity to grab his arm, in a hug, and pull herself close to him. "Hmm." She purred. "Your skin feels nice." She commented, rubbing her face against his upper arm. "Like an incredibly soft leather."

"Nabiki!" Akane yelled. "Have you no shame?"

"What? Isn't it right that a girl should get to know her future husband?" Nabiki cuddled herself closer to him. "Intimately?" At this point Ranma froze up, his mind choosing to retreat from the world, rather than deal with the beautiful girl who was saying suggestive things about him.

When he came back to the world, Kasumi was busy placing trays of food on the table, and Nabiki was still comfortably pressed into his side, the girls soft form feeling strange against him. "Do you－ you don't see me as some kind of monster?" He asked quietly, so that only she heard him.

"I admit you look a bit different like this, but I meant what I said."

"I don't know what to say." He admitted shyly, his face darkening as he blushed.

"Then don't say anything." She turned away from him, and fully leaned herself into his side.

Tentatively he let a wing dropped to lay across Nabiki's shoulders, and when she gave no resistence, he wrapped it around her form. His action made her wrap an arm possessively around his waist. This was the first bodily contact that he had received when in cursed form, and he was finding that he liked it. It felt good to touch someone else, and not be seen as a leper.

"If you two could stop molesting each other, it's dinner time." Akane sniped from her position across the table, the girl glaring angrily at him. Blushing fiercely, which was hard to do when your skin was blue, Ranma quickly scrambled away when the attention shifted to him.

'What am I doing?' He asked himself, trying to act like he hadn't just been hugging a pretty girl like Nabiki. 'Here I was, all ready to head off to Avalon to see how everyone else was doing, and now.' Sighing, he picked up a set of disposable chop sticks. 'Now I don't want to go.' Focusing past his mental conundrum, he found that his hands weren't able to properly grasp them.

"Well this never came up before." He pouted, frutrated over his inability to do the dexterous motions required.

"Something the matter Ranma-san?" Kasumi asked sweetly.

"Uh, no, I got it." He answered, figuring out the right way to hold them with talons.

"Hm, Ranma-kun." Nabiki drew his attention. "If you want, I can feed you." She questioned sweetly.

"Nabiki!" Akane said scandalously. "What is wrong with you? This isn't about that rich guy calling is it?"

"Rich guy?" He asked, glancing between the two sisters, Nabiki's face twisting into shock, then nervousness. Ranma even noticed that Genma started to sweat, a sure sign that the man knew something he didn't want to tell.

"Akane, shut up." Nabiki told her sister in a hushed tone.

"Yea some guy named－ Xanaton, or something like that." Akane answered, giving Nabiki a cross look.

"No reason to concern yourself with that boy." Genma clapped him on the back.

"What aren't you telling me old man?" He narrowed his eyes.

"That reminds me, Nabiki, did you call him back last night? He asked if we could, if Ranma-san showed up." Kasumi supplied.

"He was just worried about you." Nabiki said quickly. "He said you disappeared over a month ago, just wanted to know if you were alright."

"Well that explains it, you just want money." Akane pointed out. "Have you no shame Nabiki?"

"Akane shut up!" Nabiki yelled.

"I think I should go." Ranma slowly stood up. He may not know what was going on, but he understood enough. Nabiki was using him for some goal, Xanatos was also involved for some strange reason, and she had gone behind his back to contact him. If Genma's reaction was any indication, then he was in on something as well.

"You can't go!" Soun protested, appearing before him. "You have to marry my little girl."

Grabbing the man roughly by the front of his gi, Ranma hauled him up off of his feet. "I don't do anything I don't want to!" He roared in the man's face, his eyes lighting up. Dropping the scared stiff Soun on to the floor, he stormed out towards the waiting skiff, his angry response having frozen the group.

"Stupid, no good humans." He growled, trying to vent his frustration. He wouldn't be someone's pawn again. Never would he let someone control his actions. Jumping on to the boat, he repeated the spell to take him to Avalon. "Vocate venti fortunate, ex rege Oberonis, et hic navis flugem regate, ad orae Avalonis "

In response to his angry words, the water around him exploded upwards in steam, obscuring the world around him. The steam settled into mist, and then fog, the boat starting to rock rhythmically, indicating that he was now out on open water. Sitting down heavily, he placed his head in his hands, wanting the world to just explode.

X x x x x x

Falling to his knees at the side of a river, Ryoga slowly pulled his hands away from his face. Across his face, starting at the lower right, and ending at the upper left, were three freely bleeding cuts. Slamming his fists into the dirt repeatedly, he screamed out his frustration. Ranma continued to take everything from him, first his humanity, and now his face. He couldn't even wash the blood off without turning into his cursed form.

Ranma would pay, him and anyone, and anything that would help him. Why hadn't he smashed the helpless Ranma when he first found him in cursed form? Mercy was his weakness. Without mercy he'd be a full human, he'd still have his face. From now on he would not be merciful. Pulling his head back, he shoved his face in the water. There was a brief moment where he wondered if the curse wouldn't activate, and the next it did.

X x x x x x

The next thing Ranma knew, he was coming back to himself after shattering out of a thin layer of stone, and roaring. Before he had realized what was going on, he started the change back to human. Falling over himself and into the water, having not expected the sudden change, he surfaced fully human, and found Elisa holding out a hand to him.

Spitting out some water, he took the offered hand. "What happened?" He asked, finding that he was back on Avalon, and it was night time. Goliath, Angela, and Bronx were getting out of the other boat.

"I'm hoping you can tell me." The woman answered, wading out of the water. "We showed up shortly after sunrise and they turned to stone. By the time I got the boat to shore, you drifted in, also turned to stone."

"I was stone? But I don't turn to stone anymore." He shook his head to get rid of some of the water. "Oh no, I flipped." He realized. "Now I'm going to be a gargoyle during the day."

"Ranma, is that you?" Goliath asked.

"Who else would I be?" He laughed to himself. "That idiot Puck set it up so I only change at sunrise and sunset, not inbetween." He explained, just in time for Bronx to tackle him to the ground, and start licking at his face. "Man you're heavy." He pushed the gargoyle beast off of himself.

"Is there a way to fix it?" Elisa asked.

"I think if Avalon sends me to some place during the day, then that'll do it." Petting Bronx, he felt immeasurably better for some reason. Not that he didn't feel bad, but the crushing weight he had been feeling before he was turned to stone for the day, was gone. "Otherwise I'll have to go ask Puck for help, and I really don't want to do that."

"It's certainly different." Angela bent down to inspect him. "I mean, you said you became human during the day, but I didn't really believe it."

"Yea, it's a real kick in the pants." Getting to his feet, he found that Angela was now taller than him, where before they had been basically the same height.

"So where did Avalon send you?" Goliath asked, also inspecting him from a respectable distance.

Pulling off his shirt, he wringed out some of the water. "To see my parents." He answered sadly.

"Really? What are they like?" Angela asked innocently.

"Just like how I remember them." He answered, putting his shirt back on.

"That doesn't sound too good." Elisa guessed and Bronx butted up against his leg. "Did something happen?"

"I told you so, doesn't really cover it." He answered, chewing on his lower lip.

X x x x x x

Author Notes:

(1) – Yes Ranma has little upward facing spikes on his knees and backwards facing ones on his elbows like Demona. I just haven't made a big point out of them. Since most of this is done in his perspective, he doesn't really go on and on about how he looks this way or that, he just is.

Author Notes:

"Ex rege Avalonis, addo ut mihi a navis, sic transporto ut isle."  
From the shores of Avalon, bring to me a ship, so to travel to the isle.

Jan 3rd , 1996 - Ranma arrives in Nerima. At the same time, the rest of the group arrives on Queen Florence Island in Canada. There they encounter the Fae Raven, who is competing with another named Grandmother

Jan 4th – Ranma scars Ryoga across the face, and proceeds to leave Nerima to return to Avalon. Since he showed up on Avalon when it was morning as a gargoyle, he turned to stone, reversing his form schedule. On Queen Florence Island, Raven is defeated, allowing Grandmother to repair the damage he had been doing to the island, and the trio return to Avalon shortly before Ranma. (I did actually check when sunset would have been, 4:40 to be precise.)


	8. Familiar Destinations

"Speech"

'Thought'

X x x x x x

"Quit asking." Ranma bit angrily into an apple, supplied by the Avalon clan. "And you don't need to hover over me." He directed at Angela. "I can take care of myself better than you can."

"Sorry." Angela apologized, bowing her head.

"Angela, Elisa, I think you should respect Ranma's wishes." Goliath said forcefully, pushing the skiff with the oar, his statement holding Elisa's tongue in check.

Taking one last bite, Ranma threw the remaining apple core across the water, causing it to skip a dozen times before finally sinking through the surface. Fuming silently, he crossed his arms, mentally grumbling about nosy women. After awakening from the stone sleep, they had spent only an hour on Avalon before setting out again. Through the entire time, Elisa had been trying to dig information from him on what had happened.

"Though, I also believe that as your friends, you should be willing to tell us when you are ready." Goliath added to his previous statement.

"Only thing I want to see on the other side of this fog bank, is the sun." He answered.

"Then I am sorry to say, you will have to be disappointed." Goliath replied in an attempt at humor, the fog lifting enough so that they could see the night sky overhead, a full moon hanging silently overhead. Far away, he could barely see the shore, but he could clearly see the mountains illuminated by the moon.

"Is this Manhattan?" Angela asked, her head swiveling rapidly left and right.

"No, it's too quiet." Elisa answered, noting that wherever they were, it was not in the middle of New York city. "Besides, the water is way too clean." She joked.

"Let's go back then, no reason to stick around." He threw his opinion in. Avalon's opinion on where someone needed to be could take a nose dive off the Eyrie building for all he cared.

"Even if it's not Manhattan, we could be close, and it would be prudent to find out where before we decide on a course of action." Goliath answered him.

"Still doesn't fixed up that I'm all flipped around." He turned to glare at the large gargoyle, his eyes quickly shifting down to the small pouch on Goliath's waist. "You do know that we could use the Phoenix Gate to get back."

"No, I'm not going to allow the Gate or the Eye to be used again." Goliath told him. "We'll have find another way to fix the spell upon you."

"What if I don't like that answer." Ranma narrowed his eyes, mentally calculating his odds of taking the object by force. Goliath was surprisingly quick, and had a lot of strength and weight to throw around. 'Nah not worth it.'

"Come on you two." Angela pleaded. "We have enough to worry about without fighting between ourselves."

"We're not fighting." Ranma turned himself to look out over the dark water.

"I really am sorry Ranma." Goliath attempted to placate him. "But you know as well as anyone, that the power contained within the two items is beyond our understanding."

Bronx barked before the skiff suddenly reared up, tilting heavily to one side. Tumbling over the side, he fell into the water, sinking down into the darkness before he made an attempt to right himself. A powerful current underwater made him spin, struggling to fight against the current, he caught sight of a large object before it was swallowed by the gloom. Surfacing with a gasp, he used a hand to brush his bangs out of his eyes, before paddling for the skiff ten meters away.

Goliath had also taken a swim in the water, his long hair hanging over his face. "It seems that there may be a reason for our trip."

"Did you get a good look at it?" He asked.

"No, but we should make for the shore. Whatever it was, it was too big to fight on the water." Goliath grabbed the oar, and started to powerfully push the skiff through the water.

Ranma stripped out of his wet clothes, before exchanging them for a new set in a flash. It didn't help that he was still damp, so he hugged himself to try and keep warm. 'Least Avalon can do is send us someplace nice for a change.' Fifteen minutes later, with Goliath's dedicated rowing, they had reached the shore, and Ranma quickly hopped out and pulled the boat up onto the round rocks lining it.

"Looks like there's a town over there." Elisa pointed to where the shore line had hidden a small patch of lights. "We can find out where we are."

"Maybe I can get some shoes." Ranma said to himself, his spirits lifting marginally. He had been too preoccupied before when fighting Ryoga to realize that he had shredded another pair. Good thing they were a really cheap pair.

"Ranma, would you accompany Elisa?" Goliath asked. "We'll remain here."

"Yea sure." He agreed, figuring out that Goliath didn't want problems with the local humans.

X x x x x x

"Loch Ness?" Ranma questioned, reading a large sign jutting out from the side of a building.

"Guess we're back in Scotland." Elisa answered. "Feeling better?" She asked.

"Not particularly." He told her with false enthusiasm, the minor smile on his face belying his emotional condition.

"I'm going to make a call." Elisa pointed to a phone booth. "You have fun being grumpy."

Pouting as the woman headed off in the direction of a glass booth, he turned his attention to the small fishing village they had come across. The main street seemed to be lined with shops selling Loch Ness monster merchandise. Spread out over the boardwalk were even charters that would take people out on to the water. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to be stores selling shoes.

The walk with Elisa had been quiet, the American woman finally letting the matter of his parents drop. Finding a free spot on the dock, he sat down to let his feet dangle over the water. 'Stupid Pop.' He thought, wishing that his father was not such an idiot. 'Stupid Nabiki.' Ranma could forgive a lot, but if what he suspected was true, she was not going to get off the hook. He didn't even pay his birth Mother any mind, she wasn't worth the effort.

'Stupid me.' Looking down at his fingers, he knew the trigger to do the neko-ken attack now. Whatever had possessed him to use such a thing on Ryoga? Sure he had been aiming for the lost boy's weapon, but using an untested weapon in a combat situation? 'I hope I didn't hurt that idiot too badly.'

"Ready to head back?" Elisa interrupted his internal musings.

"Did you get a hold of－ whoever?" He asked.

"No, I had to leave a message with my partner Matt." Elisa planted her hands on her hips, surveying a tourist boat that was slowly leaving the dock. (1)

X x x x x x

"Loch Ness?" Goliath asked just for confirmation, sitting in the front of the boat, and using the oar to push the skiff away from the bank. "We have returned to Scotland." Stroking his chin, he wondered what it could mean.

"Ooh! Princess Katherine told us stories about the Loch Ness Monster." Angela added happily. "Can't we stay awhile?" She asked excitedly.

"No, we have to get home Angela. Fixing Ranma's condition takes precedence over sight seeing." He explained.

"Sides, whatever is going on here, has nothing to do with monsters." Elisa pointed towards a boat in the distance, it's bright lights scanning over the water. "All this monster business is－ strictly business."

"What do you mean?" Angela asked.

"It's a big show." Ranma told her. "Well, except for whatever it was that hit us earlier."

"My guess, Nessie is some submarine that we crossed paths with earlier. All the locals probably pitched in, so they could really bring in the tourists." Elisa joked. "See." The woman pointed towards the boat again, the light suddenly focusing on one point. "What are the odds that 'Nessie' would show up for a tourist boat in a body of water this big?"

When the eighty foot long boat suddenly tipped to the side, causing the passengers to scream, Goliath stopped agreeing with Elisa. Rising from the water between them and the boat, was a hump the size of their skiff, which started to slip through the water towards them. "Hang on!" He yelled, the hump striking the side of their boat, throwing them all into the water.

For the second time that night, he found himself swimming through the frigid waters of Loch Ness. Tumbling end over end, he narrowly avoided a long reptilian tail, as a gigantic creature passed. Using his powerful legs, he kicked his way up to the surface. Looking around wildly, he found Elisa and Bronx breaching the surface next to the skiff, but no sign of the rest of their party.

X x x x x x

Sitting in the control room of his underground research facility, complete with a submarine access door, Dr. Anton Sevarious was not a happy man. No that wasn't right, he was always amused by something. A man with his intellect couldn't limit his mind to one topic at a time, oh no, what a crime that would be.

Reaching forward, he pushed the button to activate the loudspeaker to voice his displeasure to the hired muscle David Xanatos had given him. "Gentlemen, once again you have failed to capture Big Daddy." The code name for the male Loch Ness Monster. "Without his companionship, I'm afraid that our guest is not long for this world."

"We almost had him." Bruno protested. "We spotted him attacking a tourist cruise, and we were about to get him, when we ran into some interference."

"I'm tired of your excuses!" He yelled before restoring his cool, calm, and impeccable exterior. "I'm considering sending you and your team back to Mr. Xanatos." Pausing, his curiosity had been played. "What kind of interference?"

"Gargoyles Doc." Bruno answered.

"Gargoyles! You're telling me you sighted gargoyles in Loch Ness? Did you get a good look?" He asked excitedly.

"No, something better." Bruno pointed to the submarines mouth, where a gurney was being wheeled out. "Also got one of the two humans that were traveling with em. Kid was a real bear, had to take him down with the tranq gun."

'This deserves my undivided attention.' He thought, exiting the control room, and practically skipping down the steps. "My my, an adolescent female." He commented, examining her unconscious form. "Strong evidence that we may have stumbled upon an enduring family unit." He theorized, arriving at the side of the gurney, and taking several locks of the gargoyles hair in his hand.

"Standard procedure Bruno, and try to be gentle." Turning the females head to one side, he noted the simple pair of gold earrings. "Customary cell samples of course. Hrm." Appraising the second form that was being brought out of the submarine, he wondered what ties this human had to the gargoyle. "On second thought, take some from him as well, and then put them both in the grotto."

"The grotto?" Bruno seemed shocked by his order.

"Of course, I have no real need for another human subject, and this will provide possibly interesting data on Nessie wessies reaction to both humans and gargoyles."

It was after all a pet theory of his that a small colony of gargoyles was living near the Loch, and interacting with the monsters in some way. A hypothesis he had formed when small pieces of stone skin had been found in their initial survey of the area. So far their test subject had reacted, unfavorably to human contact. 'Should Nessie take a liking to the boy, I may have to see about using my first batch of Loch Ness Monster mutate serum on him.'

X x x x x x

"Ranma, please wake up." Angela incessantly shook the male, but found him unresponsive.

She had awoke inside a huge cavern, the majority of which was a deep pool of water, broken only by several large boulders placed near the shore. Along one of the walls was a metal door, heavily barred, and too strong to break down. On the far wall across the water, was a far larger door that was submerged deeply into the water. Angela wasn't about to take a swim either, she had seen a large shape moving swiftly underneath the water.

"Please." She begged, pushing on his side, earning a moan from the human.

"Quit pushin." Ranma swatted weakly at her hand, and his green eyes fluttered open. "Why am I sleeping?"

"I don't know." She answered. "I think I hit my head when we fell out of the skiff, and then I woke up here."

"I remember that too." Ranma sat up slowly. "Then I saw you under water, and I tried to swim up to you, when this bright light blinded me. After that we were in some metal room. Two guys came in, soldiers I think, I knocked em out when they pointed a gun at me, but then a third showed up－ and." He paused rubbing his left arm. "Must have hit me with a tranq gun or something."

"A tranq gun?" She asked.

"It makes you go to sleep." Ranma answered.

"Like a magical potion?"

"Basically." Ranma got to his feet unsteadily. "My heads a little messed up, but is there something in the water?"

"Yes, I've seen it too." She slowly approached the edge of the pool. Weaving through the rocks, the creature in the water came towards her. Quickly leaving the edge, a head violently broke the surface, reaching high into the cavern, the snake like face being supported by a long muscular neck. "Is that a Loch Ness Monster?"

"Hell if I know!" Ranma yelled, both of them heading for the perceived safety of the wall. The creature let off a loud anguished cry, and dropped it's head down towards them. At the last instant, it swiveled its head to the side, directing a single large yellow eye to inspect them. Giving one last growl, the creature allowed it's head to lay on the floor.

"I don't think it means us any harm." She whispered to Ranma.

"Good thing, cause I don't want to be monster food." Ranma answered, the creatures head slowly being pulled back into the water by its bulk.

Slowly approaching the large creatures head, she could easily stand with her arms raised above her head inside of it's mouth, Angela tried to be as nonthreatening as possible. "I'm Angela." She greeted, her voice wavering. The creature's head shifted to one side, a large eye studying her. "Uh, say hello Ranma."

"Hi."

Reaching out a hand, she gently laid her palm on the creature's snout, next to a large nostril. "Wow, I'm touching a real live Loch Ness Monster." She said in awe, adding a second hand to the creature when it made a loud growling purr.

"I guess stranger things have happened." Ranma shrugged, patting the creature's snout with a hand.

X x x x x x

"So this is the fabled－ Ranma." Sevarius raised an eyebrow, watching a camera into the grotto.

"You know him?" Bruno asked.

"Mr. Xanatos informed me of our young guest's－ talent." Cutting the feed, he couldn't stand to see another second. "If it gets any more saccharin in there, I'm going to put a finger down my throat." He gestured the motion with a finger. Here he was hoping that Nessie might try to take a bite out of the boy, like she had done with all the personnel he had sent into the room, and instead she was acting like a big pet.

"So what is he known for? Being really quick?" Bruno continued digging for information.

"Our little friend, has the ability to change from human to gargoyle and in reverse. I'll have begin work right away analyzing his genetic information. Putting such an ability into my mutates would be a huge leap forward." Scratching his chin, his mind was a light with all the possibilities.

"And the female?" Bruno interrupted his musings.

"Interesting as well, though far less than the boy." Pushing his chair out from the surveillance console, he stood up. "Don't disturb me unless the sky is falling."

X x x x x x

"Do you think it's a boy or a girl?" Angela asked him.

"What does it matter?" He asked back, they had found a large trough built in the water, housing hundreds of fish. Angela was currently throwing them into the creature's mouth, the creature gobbling them up almost as fast as she could throw them.

Ranma on the other hand was inspecting the metal door, and finding that the hunk of metal wouldn't be moving any time soon. Angela might be able to rip into the surface of the metal, but the locks holding the door were on the other side, and all she would end up doing would be to wear her talons down to nothing in the attempt.

"Doesn't really, I just don't want to keep calling it－ it."

"Makes sense I guess." He shrugged, uncaring for the massive creatures gender. "Just wish I knew why somebody was keeping it, and us here."

"Her, I think it's a her." Angela said with finality.

"Fine it's a her." Placing his palm against the wall, he tried to guess how much force it could take before breaking. Of course that left the issue of causing a cave in if this was a wall that supported the ceiling. "Hey Angela, come over here and try to tear into this wall." He called to the girl. "We don't have time to play with her, we have to get out of here before morning."

"You're right, it is getting close to morning." She agreed, patting the creature once before wading her way through the water to him. "What do you want me to do?"

"Use your claws to tear at the rock around the door. What use is an impenetrable door, if you can just go around?"

"I can do that." Angela was just about to rip into the rock, when a gruff male voice echoed through the cavern.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The voice told them.

"Who are you?" Ranma demanded.

"Doesn't matter, just stay put or we'll have to tranq you again." The voice answered his demand.

"Just try it!" He yelled angrily.

"Should I still try?" Angela asked unsure of herself.

"No－ we wouldn't have time, move back." Squaring himself to the door, he assumed a basic horse stance. Originally he hadn't wanted to use this, but if someone was going to come and try to stop them while busy with the door, then there was little choice other than staying put.

Making sure Angela was clear, he threw both of his hands forward, and triggered the neko-ken attack. The door instantly fell apart into a dozen pieces, the rock surrounding it gaining complimentary cuts, and dust exploded, obscuring area.

X x x x x

"Doctor. Sevarius."

"I said not to interrupt me." He snapped, not looking up from his lab equipment.

"But Doc, the prisoners are escaping." Bruno added.

"What?" Looking up, he slid his chair over, and hit the switch to turn on the intercom video. "How?"

"Don't know, the boy cut down the door like it was made out of cheese. Just waved his arms and bam! It was gone."

Pausing to consider his options, he asked. "How long until sunrise?"

"I don't know, a couple minutes."

"Keep them contained until then. I doubt our little human friend is willing to leave his gargoyle companion behind. When she turns to stone, I do hope that you and your men can handle a teenager."

"Right boss." The intercom cut out.

"So much to do, so little time." He mused, turning back to his work.

X x x x x x

"Freeze!"

"Great, more of these idiots." Ranma groaned, looking at the two men in skin tight blue suits, with silver padding placed over vital areas, and a visored helmet.

"That's as far as you go." The one on the right said, training his rifle on to Ranma.

"What do we do?" Angela whispered, the other human pointing his rifle at her.

"Just wait." He glanced backwards, they were in a long narrow hallway, with no way of dodging. As fast as he was, being this close, meant little chance of being able to stop the first shot. That is if he even saw it coming. The other problem rapidly approaching was sunrise, five or ten minutes was all they had to get out of this facility, and even then they wouldn't be able to get far.

Raising his arms up, he sighed. "We surrender."

"What?" Angela asked incredulously.

"We can't get away in time." He explained, Angela immediately realizing what he meant.

"I surrender." She copied him, raising her arms.

"Put these on, gargoyle." The left guard reached behind his back and pulled out a single set of heavy metal shackles, and threw them to Angela.

"You too." The other guard threw him a set.

"What do you want from us?" Angela asked, fumbling to comply with the request. Ranma helped her, purposely making the manacles fit too loosely to be effective, before putting his on the same way.

"That's for the Doc to decide, now get walking." Obviously feeling more confident, the left guard came up and pushed the barrel of the rifle into Ranma.

X x x x x x

Bruno opened the door to Anton Sevarius' medical lab. A moderately sized triangular room, with several tables running along the long end, and a computer nestled in the corner made by the two short walls.

At times he really hated to be the one in charge. Sevarius was a good boss, but the guy could be downright creepy at a moments notice. Being a good employee, he didn't like to ask too many questions about what was going on in the scientists head. It was something to do with genetic engineering, and there were rumors that the brown haired man was creating monsters with it.

Said doctor was sitting with his fingers rapidly hitting keys on the keyboard, seeing him, he finished a line, and turned to address him. "Yes?"

"We got em back into the grotto. Just before the kid turned into a gargoyle, and then into stone." He had never seen such a thing. After throwing on some leg shackles, it had happened. One minute the boy was a normal looking human, the next he had turned blue, and gained wings and a tail. Almost instantly after that, the two gargoyles had turned to stone.

"And how did our dear Nessie wessie react to this?"

"Curled up around both of em, like a guard dog or somethin." Pulling out a dvd recording of the event, he dropped the clear plastic case on Sevarius' desk. "Thought you might like to have a look."

"Fascinating." Anton looked like a kid as he loaded the disk into the drive, and eagerly waited the disk to spin up. When the video started to play, Anton watched with rapt attention of the boy's transformation. Letting it play past the turning to stone part, he suddenly rewound the video to a shot of him before turning to stone. "Hmm, he doesn't remind you of anyone does he Bruno?"

"A gargoyles a gargoyle." He answered with a shrug, having no desire to tangle with one in close combat.

"Oh that's right, you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Miss Destine." Anton laughed to himself. "It's too bad that she wouldn't let me sample some of her DNA."

"Ya know, now that you mention it Doc, those two do kind of look alike." Being no expert on gargoyles, he was taking a shot in the dark. Ignoring the gender, the two shared very similar body structures, and features.

"You just might have something there Bruno, good work." Sevarius complimented him. "Judging by my previous exposure, these two do share an uncommon resemblance."

"What's that mean?"

"I believe we'll find out tonight." Sevarius closed out of the video. "Is that all Bruno?"

"Yea that's it."

"Have preparations made to capture Big Daddy tomorrow night. I can't afford to wait any longer."

"Uh, right boss, but what are we going to use to lure him to the sub? Every time we've gone out he's ran away."

"We'll just have to think of something then－ won't we?"

X x x x x x

"A Three, a two, and a one." Anton Sevarius counted down till the time until sunset. Standing with several security guards inside of the grotto. Nessie was already tranquilized, her infuriating snarling having to be shut up. A camera was setup to capture the boys transformation back to human, if what he hypothesized was correct, then it would happen again.

Both the boy and female broke out of their stone skin like any normal gargoyle, though with the chains connecting their hands and feet they couldn't do their customary roar and stretch. He watched as Ranma's body instantly began to shrink into itself. Skin turning from a pale blue to the normal human pink. His red hair losing some of its spike. Skeleton and, he assumed, internal structure returning to that of a human, losing a great deal of muscle mass in the process.

'What an absolutely brilliant transition. In twenty seconds he does what my mutate serum takes weeks and months to do. I must have it!'

"Man, I have the worst luck with shoes." Ranma complained, looking down to his feet, and noticing the leg shackles for the first time.

"You two have some explaining to do." He laughed to himself, approaching the restrained pair.

"Why are you doing this?" Ranma demanded angrily, pulling on his chains in a futile effort to escape.

"Ah ah ah!" He shook a finger disapprovingly. "I'm asking the questions here. My name is Doctor Anton Sevarius." Seeing the females look of worry towards the sleeping Loch Ness Monster, he decided to assuage her fear. "Don't be alarmed, she'll only be out for a few minutes. First off, where are you from my dear?" He asked Angela, grabbing her wrist and pulling her up in an attempt at physical intimidation. "What clan?" Seeing her angry glare and slightly bared teeth, he sighed. "I'm being rather cordial at the moment, perhaps you would like if we got a bit rough?"

"Angela, might as well answer him." Ranma instructed. "She's from Goliath's clan."

"How disappointing, here I was thinking that there was an unknown clan of gargoyles, nesting here to protect the monsters, and you were my proof. But this just confirms what I already found out about you young lady."

"What are you talking about?" Angela asked, confused over his statement.

"I took some samples from both of you, and while I could gleam no useful information from you." He indicated Ranma, the magic of his transformation not in his DNA. "Your DNA markers were most illuminating. The tests were incontrovertible, you not only belong to Goliath's clan, HE is your biological father!" Sevarius announced dramatically. "You are his very own, flesh and stone."

"Goliath is my father?" Angela chewed over the information, Ranma looking equally shocked.

"Attach the sonar tag." He instructed a guard, first they needed to capture Big Daddy, after that he could experiment to his hearts content with the boy. Unfortunately, the female was expendable.

"What are you doing?" Ranma stood up as best he could in chains, glaring at him.

"Now that Nessie's condition has improved, with the help of you two, we'll release her back into the Loch. Once she has been reunited with Bid Daddy, we'll captured the two of them. Start a little creature farm. With so much rich genetic material, the array of monsters I'll be able to spawn, makes even my mind BOGGLE!"

"You're the only monster here!" Angela snarled, trying to raise her arms high enough to get a hold of him. Ranma was able to approach him, and was struck in the face with the butt of a tranquilizer gun, sending him to the floor. Surprisingly, the boy looked like the hit had barely phased him.

"It seems some of the gargoyle fortitude has carried over." He mused, turning and walking back towards the entryway, the intrusion alarm suddenly blaring over the loud speakers. "Speak of the devil, that must be Goliath now." He joked, looking back at the two, and finding that Ranma was giving him a decidedly hostile glare. "Something you wanted to add before I go greet our new guest?"

"Just this." In a quick flash of movement, the boy's manacles were broken, and he was upon the guards. Analytically Anton watched the blur of motion, firming his resolve to have this boy as a permanent test subject. However, when he was grabbed roughly by the front of his blue jacket, and thrown into the wall, he lost some of his enthusiasm.

His head was still swimming when he was pulled back to his feet. "And here I thought Mr. Xanatos was exaggerating your skills." He joked.

"You're going to take us out of here." Ranma sneered at him, Angela snapping her manacles behind him.

"And if I don't?" This whole situation was suddenly reminding him of when Goliath took him hostage in a failed attempt at finding a way to reverse his mutagenic formula.

"First you're going to free her." Ranma jerked a thumb at the still sleeping Nessie.

"You didn't answer me, what if I don't?" He asked again.

"If you don't." Ranma leaned in close to him. "I'll start breaking bones until you do, or you're nothing more than a ragdoll."

"Very well then." He shrugged, self preservation took precedence.

X x x x x x

"It's too quiet." Goliath growled, his eyes shifting around the square floor of the elevator, the walls sliding easily past the edges as they descended.

"I know, this is kind of weird." Elisa answered and Bronx gave a few nervous growls.

The elevator ground to a halt with a set of tall doors taking up an entire wall. With a soft ding, the doors swung outwards in one smooth motion. Both his and Elisa's jaw dropped at what greeted them. Standing over a group of ten men in blue and silver body armor, all tied up and restrained, was Angela and Ranma.

"So－ what took you so long?" Ranma said with a smile.

"It appears that you two did not need our help." He said slowly, stepping off the elevator, noticing that Angela appeared to be nervous for some reason. Bronx took the initiative and ran up to energetically greet the pair.

"Sevarius." Elisa said hatefully, the monstrous doctor laying face down on the floor, Ranma's bare foot was placed on the doctor's back, holding him down.

"Doctor Sevarius if you please." Anton added.

"What is this place?" Goliath asked, the vast underground cavern housed a long pool which must have lead out into the Loch. Floating half out of its glassy surface were two submarines, each with the same basic shape. Long neck, fatter body with four fins, and an equally long tail section. The biggest difference was that the second was half the size of the first. Spread out around the pool, were offices, and fuel tanks. To get down to the offices, one had to take another service elevator or a long set of stairs.

Ranma lifted Sevarius up off the floor by the back of his shirt. "Answer him." The boy demanded.

"There's no need to be so rough." Anton rolled his eyes. "This is my humble research base for the creatures living in the Loch."

"I bet Xanatos has his grubby fingers all over this." Elisa theorized.

"Mr. Xanatos is very interested in the Loch, rare and valuable things always draw his interest." Anton's eyes shifted to Ranma before going back to Elisa.

"What do we do now?" Goliath interrupted before Elisa could get worked up over Anton.

"Wreck this place at the very least." Ranma dropped Sevarius, and started to drag two guards past Goliath towards the elevator.

"How though?" Elisa asked.

"I got that covered." Ranma threw the two on to the platform.

"And how do you propose to do it by yourself?" He asked, motioning for Angela to help him with the rest. If they were going to destroy the lab, there was no need to kill the guards, especially not when they were helpless. To take a life in the heat of battle was one thing, to kill the helpless was unacceptable.

"Like this!" Ranma suddenly threw his hand towards the smaller submarine, mimicking the attack Goliath had seen him use when under the control of the Archmage. Even though the ship was close to one hundred and fifty yards away, he could see four perfect cuts appear along it's hull. "Hmm, guess I need to focus more."

"You're able to do that freely now?" He asked, concerned over the power Ranma was able to throw around.

"What was that?" Elisa followed up his question, shocked over the power.

"I'm not so sure anymore." Ranma threw his hands forward several more times. This time, the top of the ship opened up like a tin can, water quickly spilled inside, harsh electrical shocks echoed in the cavern, followed by an explosion internally that shook the ship. Less than ten seconds later, the ship sunk below the water, more explosions causing the water to bulge upwards and splash violently over the walkway around the pool.

"What have you done?" He asked, awed and fearful of the power that was just displayed casually. "How can you use this sorcery?"

Ranma's response was to strike out at the larger sub, opening up several large gashes along the neck section. The metal folded in on itself, no longer able to hand the stresses put upon it, and the sub started to sink under the water like the previous. While the ship was sinking, Ranma started to laugh loudly, surveying the destruction with glee in his eyes.

For a moment, Goliath was back on Fortress-1 over a year ago, helping Demona steal a disk he had believed stolen from Xanatos. They had retrieved the disk, and he was preparing to leave the ship, when he had noticed Demona lingering. She had then ripped out an electrical conduit, destroying the computer control system, causing a fire that doomed the ship, and laughing the entire time.

"That's enough." Goliath commanded, putting a hand on Ranma's shoulder.

"We have to destroy this place don't we?" Ranma turned to glare at him.

"Now now Goliath, why spoil the boy's fun?" Sevarius added from the elevator.

"The very fact that that human enjoys what you are doing, is proof to me that it is folly." He explained.

"Goliath, you didn't know what he was going to do." Angela protested. "That monster was going to capture the gentle creatures living here, and use them for evil experiments."

"We are not him, and our ways are not their ways." He answered, taking a deep breath through his nose.

"That's great and all, but how do you think we get rid of this place without destroying it?" Ranma asked, annoyed at the interruption.

"That was not, what I was against." He told Ranma. "You're taking too much pleasure in destruction. I watched as Demona went down that path, do not think I'll be idle again."

"Why would I care about what Demona did?" Ranma demanded, running to another side of the platform, and attacking the nearest building on the platform below. "Do you think Demona would have cared about whatever it was that was here?" The next building was torn to pieces. "Did Demona care at all when she betrayed me?" Two more fell, leaving only only the fuel station.

"How about when she left me broken in the street?" Another attack tore through the fuel tanks, spilling the liquid out to cover the platform, and exit into the sub access pool. "What does it matter anyways?" Ranma attacked the base of a two story structure, the second story toppling over, and off the edge of the platform into the water.

"Damn it! Why won't it catch on fire?" The response to Ranma's final outburst, was that the fuel did catch fire suddenly, spreading around the lower level quickly. "Oh, cool."

"Time to go." Goliath hurried Elisa back towards the elevator, Ranma, Angela, and Bronx joining them a moment later.

X x x x x x

"What an incredible power you wield."

"Don't talk to me." Ranma snapped at Sevarius.

"Tell me how it's done, some kind of high pressure air wave? Bioelectrical? Thermal?" The doctor continued unabated.

"Shut up or I'll shut you up." He growled, angrily crossing his arms.

"Take a hint Sevarius." Elisa added.

"Detective Maza, are you not the least bit curious over how your young companion was able to destroy my research facility?" Anton continued unabated.

"As much as I hate to agree with this piece of slime." Elisa said the last word like the foulest curse imaginable. "I think we should talk about it later."

"Please Detective, an inquisitive mind like." Anton began to whine, and Ranma cut him off.

"Not one more word." He turned to glare at the man. The elevator was close to reaching the top, and he couldn't wait to be away from this human.

"Let me give you a bit of advice, if you're going to threaten someone, carry through, otherwise." This time Ranma cut off Sevarius with a fist to the side of his jaw, knocking the man back to the floor. It wasn't that hard of a hit, he didn't want to break his jaw or anything that might be permanent. Or at least he not while the guy was tied up.

"Ranma!" Goliath appeared between him and Sevarius. "He's an unarmed prisoner, there's no need to strike him."

Giving Sevarius one last dark look, he went to the far side of the elevator, and found himself forcibly nudged to the side by Bronx. Patting him on top of the head, the top of the elevator slid to the side, allowing the platform to rise completely up to the surface, and grind to a halt in the open air. Around them were the remains of a large brick warehouse next to the Loch, the roof long gone, and many of the walls missing.

"Once again Doctor, we leave on poor terms." Goliath sneered.

"Don't worry, I think we'll be seeing each other again." Anton replied. "Real soon."

"Aren't we going to do something? Give him to the cops?" Ranma asked angrily. "Something this guys done has to be illegal."

"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do." Elisa answered. "Nobody is going to believe he was hunting Loch Ness Monsters and caught one."

"Kidnapping isn't a crime?" He continued.

"Not if they're a gargoyle." She answered sadly. "There's simply no way to explain things."

"Let us leave this place." Goliath broke in. "Nothing can be gained here."

X x x x x x

Leaping over a small stream that was heading down towards the Loch, Ranma was pacing Bronx, and following Goliath with Elisa, and Angela above. Anton Sevarius was the first person that he wanted to hurt, and hurt bad. Everything about the man had felt greasy, and there was obviously no moral code that ran the man.

He was hesitant to admit it, but the man had stirred something dark in him. What if Demona was right? Had he made a mistake in going against her?

"Ranma, over here!" Goliath called down to him, and the two gargoyles overhead changed direction towards the Loch. Arriving at the spot where the trio were landing, he skidded to a stop on the small oval stones

"We should return to Avalon." Goliath called up a pair another skiff. "I believe that you two have done what we were sent to do."

"Angela, aren't you going to tell him?" Ranma whispered to the female gargoyle, seeing that Goliath was busy helping Elisa into the boat.

"I'm not sure how." She admitted, nervously inspecting her talons. "Any ideas?"

"I don't know, hi you're my dad maybe?" He shrugged.

"Your right." Angela took in a deep breath and strode towards Goliath purposely. "Goliath?"

"Yes Angela?" The big gargoyle asked.

"There－ there is something I need to tell you. It's－ um, something that I found out from that horrible man." Angela's confidence faltered, and she fidgeted under Goliath's gaze.

"What is it?"

"He said that－ that－ that I was your daughter." Angela blurted out quickly.

"Well of course, you should look on the whole clan as your family. Those from before your generation can easily be called your parents."

"No, that's not what I meant." Angela floundered for a way to explain.

"What did you mean?" Goliath asked.

"You're her biological dad." Ranma jumped in, earning a look of gratitude from Angela.

Goliath narrowed his eyes in thought, glancing between the two of them. "I do not understand why that matters."

"Why wouldn't it matter Goliath?" Elisa asked.

"It is the gargoyle way that children look upon the generation above them as their parents. Biological parents are unimportant." Goliath answered. "Surely the Princess, or the Magus would have explained this to you."

"They did, I just."

"Angela, you and your rookery siblings must look on the whole clan as your parents. It is the gargoyle way." Goliath said with finality. "Now come, we should return to Avalon."

"You really don't care?" Ranma asked worriedly. Even his father wasn't so unconcerned. While he had known about the gargoyle parent thing from Demona, part of her list of things to know before the trip back in time, seeing it in action made the idea seem far colder than it had.

"I would not expect you, or Elisa, to understand." Goliath answered simply.

"Sounds like the wrong way to me." He hopped into the front of the boat.

"You were not brought up in the same way Ranma. Angela, you were raised by the the Princess, Tom, and the Magus. Did you require any one of them to be your specific parent?"

"Well no, they weren't really our parents." Angela slowly stepped in the boat, sitting down morosely. "But they filled the role of mentors and teachers."

"Then they did raise you well in that respect. Biological parentage only leads to favoritism." Goliath pushed the skiff off from the shore and out into the water.

"Maybe we should have a change of subject?" Elisa suggested. "I think we've had enough seriousness for one night. How about what was a Loch Ness Monster like?"

"She was very nice, and she really liked fish." Angela started to recount what it was like to meet the creature. Ranma didn't add anything, letting his green eyes scan the calm surface of the lake for any trace of the large animal. He didn't have long to look, the mist that marked their passage to and from Avalon, quickly rose up as Goliath recited the incantation.

Sighing, he noted that it was still night on the island, as they paddled in towards the shore. "Can't we just go?" He asked, feeling discouraged over not seeing the sun through the mist.

"It may be a good idea for us to rest, and set out before morning." Goliath answered him. "What do you think Elisa?"

"I guess, we have been going non stop for a while now, and my call to Matt should give me another week or two before I get in trouble."

"Might as well." He admitted, there really was no reason for him to hurry back to civilization.

"Hello friends!" Gabriel's voice called down to them. Boudicca rushing towards them on the ground, and a second gargoyle Ophelia, the one with the stegosaurus crest on her head, came swirling down to meet them with Gabriel. "Boudicca can sense your arrival, even from the castle, will you be staying long?"

"Just long enough to get some rest." Elisa answered.

"You guys don't happen to have a bath do you?" Ranma asked, more concerned for Elisa than himself. One of the benefits of turning to stone, was that he came out the other side clean, though smelling a bit like concrete.

"Sorry, we do not need to bathe, and the Princess, Guardian, and－." Gabriel almost said the Magus before he caught himself. "Well, they use the river when they do. Come, let's go to the castle, I'm sure the others would like to hear about the adventure you've been on."

"You go on ahead." Goliath came over and put a hand on his shoulder. "I would like to talk with Ranma for a moment."

"What?" Ranma narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the large gargoyle, the rest having left to head for the castle on foot. "I'm not really in the mood to talk."

"Neither am I."

"Let's get this over with then." Crossing his arms, he waited for Goliath to say whatever it was that he wanted to say.

"Were you and Demona close?"

Blinking several times, Ranma stuttered for a response, before crossing his arms and looking away like he didn't care. "Close? With her? Have you spent five minutes with her?"

"There was a time where I would have given anything to spend five minutes with her." Goliath admitted sadly.

"What do you really want?" Ranma let his arms drop to his side. "You don't just want to talk about her do you?"

"I have no motive, you're young, and while I did not wish to pry into your personal life before, I believe that you are now without any home to return to."

"I've never really had a home, so I'm not sure why that matters."

"You've never had a place to return to? No－ human family unit? No place to protect?"

"Just me and my old man, traveling, and practicing the art."

"It sounds very empty."

"Empty?" He asked in disbelief. "It was the best, always some new form or style to master, trips out into the country every chance we got." Ranma couldn't help but smile, remembering life with his stupid old man. Almost as quickly, his smile faded. 'All I've ever done is martial arts, is that it?'

"I must admit that I cannot imagine such a life. This traveling is almost disturbing to me. These new places are exciting and different. But I worry about how the clan is doing in Manhattan. There are so many dangers in the twentieth century, and I fear that what we've faced so far on our journey may be nothing compared to what they are going through."

"Long as Brooklyn's not leading anything, I'm sure they'll be fine." Ranma joked, feeling like this was a safe area of conversation.

"At the moment, he should be."

"You're kidding right?"

"No, he's my second, that is his job."

"Man, what happened in that month I was gone?" Ranma smacked his forehead.

"Ranma, we're straying." Goliath said seriously, breaking the light tone that they had been getting into. "The sorcery that you used, do you control it, or does it control you?"

"It's just a martial arts technique."

"Power like that is what corrupted and destroyed the Archmage."

"Are you saying I'm like him?" Ranma asked angrily, clenching his hands into fists.

"No, I am saying that what you did earlier tonight, worries me."

"Why? Cause I destroyed that monster's lab? Shouldn't I have?"

"Do you not realize what you did?" Goliath snapped. "You tore apart steel, like it was made of paper, from hundreds of feet away!"

"You're right." He admitted, destroying the research base was beyond what he should have been capable of. Opening up his hands, he looked down at his fingertips. "I shouldn't even be able to do it. I think－ I think those sisters did something to me."

"Shouldn't you know? They said they gave you back your memories."

"No, something－ before the Archmage, something from when I was growing up."

"That is a disturbing thought, perhaps it would be best if－ you did not use it again."

"What use am I then? Stuck as a human at night, I feel like excess baggage."

"That's not true at all, and Elisa is far from－ excess baggage. It is her help throughout the day that has saved mine and the rest of the clan's lives countless times."

"Yea, I'm real useful during the day, stuck as a rock." Reaching down, he picked up a pebble, and threw it forcibly to skip out over the water. "I just want things back to the way they were." Suddenly standing up straight, Ranma felt a tingle run from his toes up through his body, and even to the tips of his hair. "What was that?" He asked, looking down, and finding that he had become a gargoyle.

"But you were human a moment ago?" Goliath questioned, noticing the sudden change.

"I don't understand it either." Lifting a leg he wiggled his three toes, planting his foot back on the ground, he flexed his wings. "Avalon maybe?"

X x x x x x

Anton Sevarius was not a happy man. Being unable to remove the metal shackles binding his hands to his feet. It really didn't help that they were behind his back. Laying on his side, he did however have a nice view of the Loch through a large doorway. Several of his hired help were awake, and they had met similar luck in removing the restraints.

Hearing heavy footsteps walking towards him from past the door, he sighed with relief. 'Now I'll just send whoever it is into town to get a locksmith, and I'll be free.' Anton was surprised to see a young Japanese boy carrying a large backpack, with a red bamboo umbrella strapped across it. The boy stopped just before the door, and looked confusedly around.

"Hello my boy." Anton greeted happily. "You wouldn't be willing to go get a locksmith would you?"

"What happened?" The boy asked in heavily accented English, and he approached quickly to check on the chains binding him. Now that he was closer, Anton could see three diagonal slashes across the boy's face. They weren't very well tended, and would leave highly visible scars when healed. "I get you out."

"I really don't see how that's possible." Sevarius started, then watched in amazement when the kid took off his belt and snapped it into a sword. With a flick of his wrist, the chains were cut, freeing his wrist and feet, but leaving the shackles in place. "My, what an interesting ability you have." He commented, watching the boy make short work of the rest of the chains.

"You have not see－ Saotome Ranma?" The scar faced boy asked.

"Ranma you say?" Anton's smile increased. "Are you a friend of his?" The rapid fire Japanese that was shouted at him, told Sevarius that it was quite the opposite. "Looking for revenge perhaps?"

"Yes." The boy growled.

"Perhaps I can be of some help."

X x x x x x

"I do not see how Avalon could be responsible." Katherine said, her strong accent grinding a bit on Ranma's nerves. It was surprising to him how none of the gargoyles who lived on Avalon their entire lives, with only a trio of Scottish humans to talk to, could come out decades later with barely an accent.

Sitting in the castle courtyard, Ranma was with his traveling companions save Bronx who had run off with Boudicca. A small fire was burning inside their circle, some fish having been cooked earlier above it.

"The Magus did use magic when he helped wake up King Arthur." Elisa threw in. "But it was really flashy and hurt him to do it. Seemed to take a lot of concentration."

"One second I was human, I felt a tingle, and then I was a gargoyle." He shrugged, there hadn't been any light show or pain to it.

"Is this a bad thing?" Angela asked. "I mean, you wanted to fix when you changed back and forth."

"Aye, this is a bit worrying though." Tom scratched at his chin. "The only beings that are supposed to be able to change their form willingly, are those of the Third Race."

"I think I'd know if I was." He responded.

"Ranma, how much training in magic did Demona give you?" Goliath asked.

"Just the basics really." Ranma shrugged. "A human or gargoyle needs a focus to perform magic, a spell to cast, I didn't have either of those. Best I can think of, is that Puck's spell on me reacted to something. He is from the Third Race."

"I think it's safe to assume that something Puck did is behind it. At one point he did turn me into a gargoyle and Goliath into a human." Elisa added.

"So, will you be staying long?" Katherine asked hopefully, changing the subject abruptly.

"No Princess, it seems as you said Tom, Avalon is sending us where we need to be. Until Avalon no longer sends us to the outside world, I do not believe this is where our final destination lies." Goliath answered. "For a more concrete answer, we'll leave before morning."

"I'm going to go get some air." Ranma stood up from the seat he had taken around a small fire, raising his wings up off of his shoulders. He needed to feel the wind back beneath his wings again. The brief flight to the castle hadn't satisfied his desire.

"I'll come with." Angela followed him up to the second story wall.

"You don't have to." He paused on the walkway, flaring his wings.

"What? You don't want me to show you a great spot?"

"Great spot for what?"

"Sister!" A pair of feminine voices called from above, and Ranma watched a pair of girls land near to them.

"I thought you were leaving for the outside world." One with dark orange skin greeted. She had no hair, but four pairs of progressively smaller swept back horns, that created the illusion of hair. She was dressed in a white dress with long sleeves, the bottom went down to her knees, with splits up both sides of the legs to allow free movement.

"It seems like Avalon doesn't want me to leave Ai." Angela answered. "But it has been exciting. If you are interested, you should join us on a skiff."

"And leave the castle? You always were a bit odd Angela." The second female added jokingly before turning to him, and looking him up and down. "Not as strange as you though, I'm Crescens." She introduced herself.

This one had skin the same lightness as his own, though in a green shade. Her white hair was tied in a high ponytail, the gold band keeping it tied, extending it's height high off of her head. Two finger sized horns raised vertically from the sides of her forehead, just in front of her ears. She wore a similar dress to Ai, but it lacked sleeves, and was colored red.

"I'm Ranma." He introduced to be polite.

"We were just going to the overlook. Would you like to come along?" Angela asked.

"Love to." Ai answered.

X x x x x x

"When the sun rises, you can almost see it before turning to stone." Crescens explained.

"We used to sneak up here when we were growing up, and spend the day here, just so we could see the island in twilight." Angela said fondly.

"And then the Princess would give us an ear full for making her worry." Ai added, causing the trio to giggle together.

"The sun huh?" Ranma sat down on a small bench, his view allowing him to see clear across the island. The overlook was on the far side of the island from where they had been arriving on the skiff, high on the second tallest mountain, in a platform carved into the hillside. Everything was made out of marble, in a similar style to what he remembered of the grotto across the lake from the castle. On the benches were thick red felt cushions that looked brand new.

"Right after sunset, the entire island is bathed in an orange light. It's the only glimpse of the sun we ever see." Angela leaned on the railing lining the front of the platform. "You get to see it Ranma, what's it like?"

"That's right, you turn into a human don't you?" Ai took a seat next to him, leaning in close to him, and taking several sniffs with her nose. (2)

"What's that like?" Crescens took a seat on the other side of him, also leaning in close.

"Uh." He fidgeted, glancing between the two. "Well."

"When you walk, how do you balance? Without a tail and walking on your heel like that." Ai laughed to herself.

"Do you fall all over yourself for a while when it happens? You know, till you get used to it?" Crescens pressed.

"Fall? I don't fall." He puffed up his chest.

"But Ranma, you fell the last time we arrived on Avalon." Angela butted in.

"Erk－ that was just cause I was surprised. I mean, I wasn't supposed to turn into a human then, and being on the boat." He hastily explained.

"Hmm, so what are you? Human or gargoyle?" Crescens asked.

"Do you have a clan?" Ai added a half second later.

Ranma hesitated in answering, his relatively good mood darkening a bit. "I was born human, and no, no clan."

"So you're not part of Goliath's clan back in the normal world?" Ai asked, and she and Crescens looked completely confused over the concept.

"No."

"Oh." Both girls said together.

"Ranma." Angela started, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "What's the difference between Manhattan and－ Japan?"

"Lot's of things." He answered, standing up, and pacing. "Language for one, English for Manhattan, and Japanese for Japan."

"So you speak both?" Crescens theorized. "The Princess tried to teach us a little French, but she said she wasn't very good with it. What's Japanese sound like?"

"It sounds like this." He switched over to Japanese.

"What did you say?" Ai asked, all three girls now intensely curious.

"It sounds like this." He repeated in English.

"What else?" Crescens asked excitedly.

"Uh, the writing is a lot different. It took me a while to learn how to read in English. Then again, it took years for me to learn all the daily kanji."

"What's kanji?" Ai asked.

"It's part of the writing system in Japan. Hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana and katakana are like the English alphabet, but with more of them. Kanji are a bit harder though, there are thousands of them, and they can be part of, or a full world depending on the context." He explained, earning several blank looks.

"Um, what do they look like?" Angela asked.

"How do you spell your name?" Ranma asked Ai.

"Ai." She answered.

"That sort of matches up with a Japanese word." Hopping over the railing quickly, he sifted through the stones nearby, and grabbed one with a large flat surface. "Here." Carefully he started to carve a kanji into it. "This is one way to write your name." Once done, he handed it to her.

"It's beautiful." She ran her thumb over the etching. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Do mine." Crescens begged, gazing at the carving.

"I can't." He shrugged, jumping over the railing to sit on it's wide top. "Least, not like that. I could write it out in katakana though." This earned him an energetic nod.

"Could you do mine as well?" Angela asked while he went to grab another rock.

"Fine fine." He agreed, vowing not to do it for anyone else.

X x x x x x

"Where are they?" Elisa paced on the sandy beach, waiting to board the skiff, and make another attempt to return home. Sunrise was only about a half hour away, and they needed to leave before then. She had taken a nice long nap, which had filled up her time on the island, and seemed to fully recharge her for another day.

"Perhaps Avalon's allure is too strong for the boy." Tom suggested half heartedly, watching Bronx and Boudicca frolic through the incoming waves.

"It's possible, Manhattan is our home, but neither Ranma or Angela's." Goliath added.

"Yea, well if either of them plans to stay, they shouldn't make us worry." Elisa answered both of them, crossing her arms in a huff.

"Relax Elisa, here they come now." Goliath pointed towards a pair of gargoyles who were flying towards them at high speed.

"Where have you two been?" She demanded at them.

"What? We're here." Ranma said dismissively.

"Bronx." Goliath called the gargoyle beast, who quickly ran over, and jumped into the boat. Boudicca also approached the boat, though she remained off of it. "We should be leaving."

"Goliath could you put this in your pouch?" Angela asked, handing a small rock to her father. "I don't want to lose it."

"What is it?" He asked.

"Ranma wrote my name in Japanese." She explained.

"Fine." Goliath agreed without caring, shoving the piece of stone in his pocket.

"Seems like you two had a good time." Elisa joked, wading into the water, to get on the skiff.

"It was nice to relax." Angela took a seat in the middle, Ranma a moment later joined her. "Though I would have loved to see the island when the sun first sets again."

"You'll probably get a kick out of New York in the evening then." She told Angela, thinking of all the reflections off the buildings.

"Good luck on your journey." Tom said from the shore.

"Thank you Tom, regretfully we must hope not to see you for a while." Goliath joked, stepping on to the skiff.

"I hope you can return home this time as well." Tom smiled, and helped push the skiff out in the water.

X x x x x x

Author Notes:

(1) – Said message was not received because the answering machine was full.

(2) – After the last return to Avalon, pretty much everyone found out about Ranma's little problem. On further note, Ai's name is pronounced like "aye", which is where her name came from, which is the same way to pronounce Ai in Japanese. I did find the name while looking for biblical names.

Timeline

Jan 8th – Ranma's group arrives in Loch Ness, where he and Angela are taken prisoner by Anton Sevarius.

Jan 9th - Shortly after being imprisoned, they become friends with a Loch Ness Monster, and make an escape attempt close to dawn. Unable to escape in time, the two surrender and turn to stone back with the creature.

The next night when they wake up, another escape attempt succeeds, and they take over the entire facility before the crew knows what happened. After destroying Sevarius' minisubs, Ranma and the group set out to return to Avalon, leaving Anton and his men chained up at the entrance to the lab. Ryoga arrives searching for Ranma, and frees the group. Sevarius offers to help Ryoga in his quest.

Jan 10th – Returning to Avalon for some rest, the group leaves shortly before dawn, after eleven hours have passed.


	9. Paris

"Speech"

'Thought'

#Panda Sign#

X x x x x x

January 21st

"Where do you think we are?" Ranma asked, pushing the oar through the water, the skiff sliding easily on the calm surface. Dawn had come shortly after leaving Avalon, turning the three born gargoyles into stone, and he human once again. Unfortunately only Bronx had been in a sitting position.

"I wish they would have sat down." Shaking his head, he stood up on to the far back bench to be able to see where they were going. They had entered into a canal system, with stone walls extending up several meters on both sides, and a walkway just above water level.

"Well, seeing as that looks like the Eiffel Tower, I'd say it's a good bet we're in Paris." Elisa pointed to where the top of a metal tower extended over some building. "It's hard to believe though, of all the places Avalon could have sent us, why Paris?" Elisa sighed, glancing at Goliath. "You up for a little sightseeing?"

"Sounds fun." Ranma smiled, though he wanted to remain here and protect the three statues.

Passing underneath an arched stone bridge, Ranma pushed the skiff up against the side of the river that was lined with a steep shore, and thick trees. Hopping off the skiff, he pulled the it in close, and tied it firmly in place to a large tree trunk. "You don't happen to know French do you?" He asked.

"I always dreamed of coming here, but never really picked up any French." Elisa shrugged, carefully making her way off the boat. "You?"

"I didn't even think I'd visit Europe." He answered, heading to the top of the incline, before looking worriedly at the sleeping trio below. "They'll be alright there, won't they?"

"Should be alright, looks like a good part of town, and the trees do a good job of blocking them."

X x x x x x

"Even though it's smaller than the buildings in New York, there's still something about it." Elisa remarked, as she stood with Ranma in the middle of a crowd in the large grassy area next to the Eiffel tower. It was the last place they were visiting before heading back to the skiff, and she promised herself to return with Goliath. Earlier, both her and Ranma had realized that Avalon was providing as a translator for them, since they understood the French speakers and writing around them.

Elisa couldn't be sure if Rama was trying to cover up his demons, or if he was genuinely excited at the prospect of being at one of the most iconic buildings in the world. She had been trying to place the cursed boy somewhere on the side of good or evil. Since first hearing about him, the things he had done, being around him, the only thing she could really say was that he was complicated.

Ranma seemed to want to do good, but he could be petty, jealous, and extremely egotistical. His idea of what good was also varied wildly, his involvement with Demona was proof enough of that. It was easy to forget how young he was with his tough guy attitude. To see him acting like the kid he was, actually put a smile on her face.

'How am I out of shape?' She wondered, finishing the climb to the second floor, and breathing more heavily than she would have liked. Especially in comparison to Ranma who looked like he could run a marathon. 'Kids and gargoyles.' She grumbled.

They weren't able to go to the very top, she was trying to ration her money, and returning at night certainly did that. She didn't think too much on the legality of it, since she wasn't exactly in the country legally either. It was hard to justify herself sometimes. Often times she had to bend the law a bit too far in order to help Goliath and the clan in their activities. Sometimes, she really felt more of a vigilante than a detective.

X x x x x x

Enjoying the wind as it pushed his hair around wildly, Ranma stood alone, while Elisa had run off to the toilet. Being over a hundred meters in the air, the urge to jump he had gained was tempered with the knowledge that a fall from this height would hurt, a lot. Of course this height seemed at the same time seemed small. When you had wings and made a habit of leaping from skyscrapers, height no longer mattered in the same way. From, is this too high? To, is this high enough?

Hearing a pair of footsteps coming towards him, he ignored them until an all too familiar voice speak up, and he whirled around to see two very different people walking hand in hand. To the right was Demona, dressed in a knee length black skirt, black high heeled shoes, and a golden three fourth sleeved blouse. Her long hair was pushed back, and held in place by a black headband. A small dark brown leather purse was slung over her should, and a pair of oval sunglasses kept her eyes from view.

To the left was Macbeth, wearing navy slacks, a blue button up shirt, and a brown jacket over top. The large man had his arm possessively wrapped around Demona's slim waist, a genuine smile spread over his face. Demona likewise seemed completely happy to be in the arms of one of her most hated enemies, even laughing at something Macbeth had just said.

"Well this is a surprise." Macbeth said warmly. "Sorry I don't remember your name, but your face and dress are familiar."

"Ra-Ranma." He greeted, unnerved by the lack of recognition in Macbeth's eyes. Demona however seemed to be putting on an act. She was smiling pleasantly, vacantly looking into his eyes, except for a quick glance at Macbeth that was decidedly unfriendly.

"It's good to see you again lad." The elder man extended a hand to be shaken. "Tell me, did you ever finish my book?"

"I did." He answered, giving Macbeth's hand a brief shake.

"Any thoughts?"

"Uh." He floundered, trying to dig through the haze and remember what he had read. It had been read while under the control of the Weird Sisters, and that time period remained hard to remember.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Macbeth gestured towards the red haired woman at his side. "This is my fiancée, Dominique Destine."

"Pleased to meet you." Demona, or Dominique greeted cordially.

"You know my dear, I have to say, you two look a lot alike. I dare say you might be related." Macbeth said teasingly.

"Never met her in my life." Ranma said hesitantly.

"Are you being racist my dear?" Demona answered with a joking tone. "Not all Asians look the same."

"You're right my dear, I apologize." Macbeth did not seem to know that Demona was hanging off his arm, because he casually leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "Forgive me?"

"Oh alright." Demona kissed Macbeth back. "But we need to hurry or we'll miss our reservation."

"Really?" Macbeth checked a watch on his left wrist. "Indeed we will. I would invite you along but our reservation is just for two."

"Right." Ranma nodded mechanically as the two left, but not before Demona had secretly handed him a small piece of paper. Watching the duo enter the restaurant on the level, he finally looked down at the paper.

'North tower of Notre Dame Cathedral, 8pm, tell no one.' Was written out in Demona's perfect cursive script.

"Back." Elisa informed him, and he quickly shoved the paper in his pant pocket. "You alright? Your face is all white."

"Me? Couldn't be better." He boasted, while Elisa looked at him suspiciously.

"Well, let's head out, I think we can squeeze in seeing the Arc de Triomphe before it'll be night."

"Sure, lead the way." He let Elisa head first down the steps to the ground level, taking the note out of his pocket one more time to be sure it was real.

X x x x x x

They did not make it back to the skiff and it's secluded position before nightfall. Elisa had been too engrossed in viewing the carvings on the side of the Arc de Triomphe, and he was too distracted by the arrival of two unexpected immortals to notice that sunset was approaching. So now Ranma was ducking into an alley to quickly pull of his shoes when his skin started to turn blue. Quickly clamping his taloned hands over his mouth when he stopped roaring, Ranma had to duck behind a dumpster when a pair of inquisitive Paris residents came to check on the load roar.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything." Elisa told them when they asked if she had heard anything. Ranma rolled his eyes, imagining the looks of distrust that Elisa must be getting. Crouched down behind the large metal bin, he waited till Elisa had come into view.

'Boy do I love hiding.' He sighed as he stood up.

"They thought it might be the Notre Dame monster." Elisa joked. "Apparently it's all over the news, they even said the newspaper had a front page article on the various sightings."

"What's Notre Dame?" He asked, feigning ignorance when he realized that Demona hadn't been discrete.

"It's a really famous cathedral, listen, how about you go meet up with Goliath and Angela, while I grab a paper?"

"Alright." That plan seemed reasonable, but he wouldn't be following it.

X x x x x x

Angela stood at the top of the embankment on the side of the strange river. She was trying to get used to the loud and unnatural noises that permeated the air. Noisy rumblings passed by in the streets as humans inside were ferried around in metal boxes. The sky looked like it was on fire from all the electric candles that lit the city. Even from her limited vantage point, she was almost overwhelmed by the stimuli.

"Do you know where we are?" She asked Goliath for the third time.

"No." Her father answered, looking around worriedly. Neither Ranma or Elisa had been here when they had awoken, and she was similarly concerned that something may have happened to them while they had slept.

"Well should we go look for them?" Smiling down at Bronx, the gargoyle beast was laying on the grass, his alert eyes watching the figures across the river.

"No, this appears to be a large city, and it would be foolish for us to blindly wander while they know where we are." The larger gargoyle was standing stoically among the trees, as still as a statue.

"Sorry guys." Elisa came brushing through the trees behind them.

"Where were you?" Goliath asked animatedly, quickly moving to stand close to Elisa. Bronx was there as well, briefly butting himself up against the human woman. "I was worried, Elisa."

"Turns out we're in Paris, and there's a gargoyle or group of gargoyles here." Elisa raised up several large sheets of parchment, on one of them was a large blurry picture of a gargoyle silhouetted against the moon. "Isn't Ranma back yet?"

"We assumed he was with you." Angela answered, viewing the parchment with interest. The text was so perfectly uniform, she wondered how long it had taken to craft such a work.

"He was supposed to come back here while I got a newspaper." Elisa frowned.

"Perhaps he met these other gargoyles on the way?" She suggested.

"That's as good a theory as any." Goliath nodded. "Is there any information on where these gargoyles maybe Elisa?"

"Seeing as they're calling it 'The Monster of Notre Dame', why don't we start there?" Elisa answered.

"How do we get there though?" Angela asked, imagining the difficulty in finding a single building in what must be a vast city.

"If we stay on the river it'll bring us right to it." Elisa answered.

"Then we will need to use the skiff, there are no buildings near enough to our position to be able to glide without being in full view of the public." Goliath made his decision on their course of action, and Angela obeyed, agreeing with his assessment. Though she would have loved to fly over this city and try to make sense of it.

Once in the skiff, Goliath took the oar, and began paddling them forward. Sitting in the middle of the boat, she watched the buildings passing by with great interest. Their architecture was so foreign to what she had known. There were no heavy stone walls, no defensive emplacements, just simple buildings designed to be decorative over functional. Any humans that saw them paddling through the water paid them no mind, it was dark on the river, and with their wings caped around their shoulders, they appeared to be human.

Slowly winding their way down the river. Angela stared in wonder at the Eiffel tower as they passed. The black metal spire was unlike anything she had ever seen. Taller than the highest tower at the castle on Avalon, and constructed in such a strange fashion. Once they had found Ranma, she simply had to return and inspect the structure more.

They didn't stop there, continuing down the river till a cathedral, like nothing the Princess or Magus had ever drawn for her when she was growing up, appeared from behind another building. "So that's Notre Dame Cathedral." She shifted on her seat, eager to see if more new gargoyles were living around this incredible building.

Glancing at Goliath, he seemed less interested in the architecture of the area than her or Elisa. "Isn't it magnificent, father?" She asked, trying to start some kind of dialogue with her only known parent. Angela was taken aback by the stern warning that such a connection didn't matter, and a repeated line about viewing the entire clan as her family. Giving up for the moment, she looked down sadly, and folded her hands in her lap.

X x x x x x

Ranma didn't waste time soaring past the stone gargoyle figures decorating the roof line of the large cathedral he had found, as he quickly swung into, and landed in the north tower. The wooden floor creaked softly, and he briefly clamped down with his toes into the woods to cease his forward momentum. Slowly looking from left to right, light from the interior came up through a large square hole in the floor below a number of bells, giving enough light for him to see by.

Demona stepped out from behind one of the large bells, she had lost her human clothing, and donned an off white dress similar to what Angela wore, but with some skin tight blue piece beneath that came down to her knee and elbows. Paris may not have been below freezing, but even a gargoyle would get cold with the wind while flying, or simply standing around.

"You came." The left corner of Demona's mouth turned upward in a good natured smirk.

"What's this about?" He asked coldly, keeping a watchful eye on the female gargoyle in case she was playing a trick.

"Oh don't turn into Goliath, expecting treachery where there is none." Demona looked sincerely taken back by his accusation. "I just wanted to talk."

"How did you even know I'd be here? I never saw you write that note."

"I could say I saw you earlier but that would be a lie. I just knew that you would come." Slowly, she came towards him. "That our paths would cross once more."

"More fate stuff?" Ranma frowned, wondering if more of the Third Race would be interrupting his life.

"There's also a few questions I have." Demona walked past him to look out over the city. "I don't remember anything from that night months ago when the humans were still turning to stone at night. Till when I awoke on a small boat with Macbeth. Do you know?"

"I do." He answered, remember his own distress at suddenly losing time. "But I don't think you would want to know." Finding out that major events in his life had been purposely crafted, was even more disturbing than losing months of time.

"Then I suppose you have not forgiven me then?" She turned back to him.

Blinking once, he took a deep breath through his nose, and was unable to answer her question. He was forgiving by nature, and he certainly wanted to believe that she had thought her actions were for good, but she had done so much bad in that pursuit.

"Do you think I should?" He asked.

"No." She answered simply. "I don't think you should－ but－ I want you to."

"Fine, I'll tell you what I know."

X x x x x x

Demona crossed her arms, glancing to her left, with a dark look hovering over her face. She had been controlled, manipulated, used like a puppet for that insufferable human the Archmage. Ever since her first days under his tutelage, she had plotted removing the old human as soon as possible, and she had thought him long dead after that night with Goliath and Hudson. (1)

As disturbing as his return to life was, the sheer power these Weird Sisters had wielded over her was stunning. She would need to keep a closer eye on Puck in the future. Looking at what the Sisters had done compared to Puck, he had been able to hypnotize and change all of Manhattan, while they had been relegated to servants of the Archmage. Yet they had still been able to make her into a puppet. 'What incredible power must Puck wield? More than I could ever dream, even with the help of the Grimorum.'

Of course Ranma wasn't telling her everything. Who it was that the Archmage had the three of them attack, how they were able to repel such a force backed by someone with the Archmage's power at the time. He had been so intentionally vague that it was hard to actually believe him if not for the fact that she knew him enough to recognize being vague, and telling a lie.

"Since I told you about that, why don't you tell me about what you're doing with Macbeth?" Ranma broke her internal self-depreciation. "And don't think I'll let you hurt people again." He warned.

"Nothing like that." She answered. "This afternoon you saw me playing my part with Macbeth. He has no clue that I－ and his precious Dominique Destine are one in the same. Tomorrow we will be wed. But there is another part, when I awoke another gargoyle was already residing in Paris, his name is Thailog, and in his short life, he has stolen twenty million dollars from Xanatos. Not a terribly large sum, but combined with the wealth I've hoarded over my long life－ plus the money Macbeth has no doubt gathered. If they were both to－ disappear, I would become wealthy enough to be on equal footing with Xanatos."

Demona started to feel better and better as she explained her scheme to Ranma, feeling that it was a safe and comfortable direction for her life to take. She was the one in control, not some shadowy figure behind the curtains. She knew that he would have no love for Macbeth, and Thailog was a monster in every sense of the word.

Her hunch that Ranma would show up if she stayed in Paris was a pleasant surprise. Having him back in her life, no matter how easily he got under her skin, was something that she desired. He was almost the child she had lost to that wretched Princess and her human cohorts.

"That's it? You need money?" Ranma seemed skeptical and distrustful of her motives.

"Money is just one part of it, such wealth brings power, don't be so short sighted. This is not merely taking pocket change." She shook her head sadly, feeling like she had failed to impart her wisdom on the youth during their time together. "You can be part of it, if you wanted, with my power I'll be able to force change upon the humans. I'll be able to make a safe place for all gargoyles, for me－ for you."

"Yea right, I should have listened to Goliath. You're not going to change." Ranma didn't give her time to respond before he had dove over the edge, and started to glide out and away from the cathedral.

"Ranma wait!" She called after him, pausing at the edge. "Damn it." Without another thought she dove off the tower to follow the other powder blue gargoyle.

X x x x x x

Thailog, the genetic clone of Goliath chuckled sinisterly to himself. Standing on the roof of the tower, he had heard every word. He had known since the beginning that Demona wasn't exactly faithful to him. That was fine by him, he had always planned to betray her as well. Her interest in this new gargoyle was most interesting. Sure he knew of Ranma from Xanatos, but he didn't know much at all about his relationship with Demona.

Rubbing his chin, his great mind started to work ways to turn this situation to his benefit. Turning Macbeth and Demona upon each other would happen on its own. From the boy's animosity, bringing Ranma into that to make a trio, shouldn't be all that difficult. They had even done it before without any prompting.

Of course he had to play his part of appearing devoted to Demona. So when the duo were a safe distance away, he started to follow.

X x x x x x

Arriving at a small spot to dock a boat on the side of the river, Elisa got out of the skiff to strap it to a mooring while Goliath held the boat steady with the oar. Angela and Bronx hopped from the boat, Bronx immediately began to sniff about, while Angela focused on the two towers that could be seen rising up.

"So this is a cathedral." The gargoyle remarked. "I've always dreamed of seeing a real church. The Princess would often talk about the religion of the outside world."

"It is a magnificent building." Goliath added. "But what did the Princess tell you of religion?" The big gargoyle asked, a small amount of concern entering into his voice.

"I think we have more important things to do." Elisa interrupted, sensing that this may be a subject that they would have to get into when there was more time. "Let me go check to see if anyone is around." Running up the steps, she glanced around the street and large open courtyard in front of the cathedral.

Most of the people were busy going to and from some place, only a small handful of tourists were actually milling about the area taking pictures. The picture taking tourists soon found a new subject when one, then a second gargoyle glided out from the north tower, to shoot over top of her and continue back towards the Eiffel tower. The first one she immediately recognized as Ranma, while the second was identified by Goliath.

"Demona." He growled.

X x x x x x

Having put a great deal of distance between himself and the cathedral, Ranma finally landed on a eight story building, his wings aching from flapping to increase his speed. Taking a few deep breaths, he caped his wings to let the muscles rest. Demona had got to him, not through any words, or what she had done, just by being there. He hadn't realized just how much he had missed her until he seen her.

The four he was traveling with helped fill that void, Elisa and Goliath not as much as Angela or even Bronx. Goliath kept giving him constant little reminders about Demona, and Elisa was little better. Angela though found him interesting not because of his ties to Demona, but because she actually valued him as a person. He could even admit that she was cute, though friendship was the only thing on his mind.

He jumped when he heard someone land a short distance from his position. Seeing that Demona had followed him, he bristled, raising his wings, and preparing to fight or literal flight. She didn't look like she was interested in fight, her body relaxed, and staring at him sadly.

"Why did you follow me?" He demanded. "Think you can lie to get me on your side again?"

"I did lie to you, I betrayed your trust, but don't all the good times we had count for anything?"

"What do you want?" He conceded her point.

"I just want to know what you've been doing."

"Why?"

"You're different－ something has changed with you, and I don't think it's because of Goliath."

"And you care why?" He continued to be combative, knowing that if she wasn't serious her patience would vanish in an instant.

"While you may not believe it, I do care about you." She informed him seriously. "I remember that you once said, you're the only one I have left." Demona paused. "Without you, I have no one either, I've had no one for hundreds of years before we met."

If she was lying, Ranma couldn't detect it, and knowing her history it was likely true. "I've been traveling with Goliath, Elisa, Bronx, and Angela." He started feeling that there was something he should tell her. "Angela is－ that is if you and Goliath were－ you know－ well she's your daughter."

Demona didn't immediately respond, then her face slowly shifted into a mixed look of despair, anger, and happiness. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not. That Princess took all the eggs to Avalon, and they grew up there. Since time doesn't really work right there, they're still alive. They were the ones the Archmage had us attack."

"I have a daughter?" Demona questioned happily and he nodded. "What's she like?"

"She's－ innocent." He decided that would be the best word to describe Angela. "The only problems she's ever had have been us and the Archmage."

"Can－ will you take me to meet her?" She asked hopefully, showing the opposite reaction of Goliath who had been absolutely indifferent to the idea of having a child. Demona again was showing that while she hated humans, some of her personality was heavily human.

He didn't know if he wanted the two to meet. Demona could twist Angela up inside just like she had done to him, except with far more ease. But how could he keep them apart? Even though he hated Genma and his birth mother for what they did and represented, a small part of him would like nothing more than to have a family. Angela felt strongly about having parents, Demona seemed to want to be a part of her child's life unlike Goliath, so this was a good thing.

But if uniting mother and daughter after decades and hundreds of years apart was such a good thing, why did he feel so angry that Demona had forgotten about him when he had mentioned Angela?

"I'll take you to see her." He finally answered.

"Thank you so much." Demona came in close and hugged him. Ranma made no move to stop her, nor to back away when she stroked his hair.

"I did miss you." He whispered, awkwardly hugging her back, overcome with emotions that she didn't forget about him. "And you were right about my father." Shutting his eyes he let his wings drape over them. "You were right."

"Shh, shh, it's okay." She said soothingly, continuing to stroke his hair. "I guess－ that it has to be learned."

"What am I going to do?" He asked himself more than Demona, trying to hold back tears.

Ever since awakening on Avalon from the Archmage's control, he had felt so lost, so out of place, not knowing where to go or even who to follow. Was he a human who became a gargoyle? Or was he now a gargoyle who had been and continued to turn into a human? What home did he have to go to? What world did he call his own? He just wanted everything to be simple and to make sense.

"Come back to me." She suggested sincerely while he remained silent, considering what purpose Avalon had sent them here for. Was he cursed to endlessly travel to whatever place that Avalon deemed fit? Or was this the end of the line, the place he needed to be. Was it for Angela as well?

"I will."

X x x x x x

Goliath decided that Demona and Ranma could wait the moment he spotted Thailog following after them. It was hard to miss his clone, the nearly black colored gargoyle was clad in reflective steel armor with red fabric acting as accents, and forming a loin cloth. He was now happier that he had told Angela to protect Elisa with Bronx, even though he now had a distinct disadvantage.

Thailog had done so much bad in his short life, attempting to kill him, Elisa, and Xanatos as well as steal millions of Xanatos' money in one fell swoop. How his clone had survived the blaze that was supposed to do all three of them in, he did not know, but he was going to find out why the clone was in Paris. (2)

Calling out to the other gargoyle as he caught up to him, Thailog smiled cruelly before dropping down to a rooftop. Landing himself, he kept a weary distance, knowing just how dangerous Thailog could be.

"Well hello Goliath." Thailog greeted him with a pleasant drawl. "Fancy meeting you in Paris, if you had given me warning, I would have setup accommodations."

"I'm not here for sightseeing. What is your reason for being here?"

"Manhattan is your city, why can't I have my own?"

"And Demona?"

"My－ angel of the night arrived here one night." Thailog smiled. "We've been inseparable ever since."

"That would explain why you were sulking around until she was far enough off not to notice you following." He sniped.

"That? I was just attempting to get her some quality time with her young friend. I know that they have been apart for some time." Thailog waved a hand negligently, disregarding his stalking.

"And I suppose she has fed you the same lies she did me. Attempting to turn you against the humans. Even with all that Xanatos programmed into you, you're still a child, ignorant of how the world works. Demona is no doubt using that against you."

"Don't be so paranoid, Father. I'd trust Demona with my life, and I have no desire to hear you speak ill of my beloved."

"Demona knows not love, she is a disease that consumes and destroys all who cross her path."

"You're so jaded Goliath that I have no desire to converse with you any further. Though thanks to you I now no longer know where to find my beloved."

Goliath didn't make a move to stop Thailog from leaving. As with Ranma, words would not convey the sheer corruption that was Demona, and it appeared that she had her claws dug into his clone already. Thailog would need to find out on his own.

X x x x x x

Angela sighed while sitting midway down the steps to the boatlanding with Elisa on a lower step, and Bronx curled up next to the humans legs. Glancing over her shoulder towards the cathedral, she sighed again, and rested her head in her hands. Goliath may not care that he was her father, but he certainly was treating her like a little kid. She was even older than Ranma, yet he was out exploring, and getting to see this interesting town while she stayed here in the shadows making sure Elisa was safe.

She didn't really resent Elisa for being a human, necessitating her protection, but if she could become a gargoyle like Ranma then everything would be so much easier. Sighing yet again, she realized how silly she was being. Goliath was the leader and if he thought she should remain behind to protect Elisa, then she should do her best. No matter how much she wanted to simply wander off and enjoy the sights.

"Who's that?" Elisa asked suddenly, attempting to look at a dark form that dropped down towards them from high up. Angela's better night vision allowed her to realize that it was Ranma, who was coming down to land lightly on the boatlanding platform.

"You're back." Angela greeted happily. "Where did you go?"

Ranma glanced between Elisa and herself twice before speaking. "Angela, can you come with me? There's someone I want you to meet."

She nearly agreed without a thought. "I can't, Goliath wanted me to stay with Elisa."

"Who is it that you met Ranma?" Elisa asked.

"It's private." He replied forcefully. "Gargoyles only." Elisa looked at him with confusion over this stipulation.

"Goliath should be back soon, if you stay here you'll be safe." Angela quickly reasoned her way into leaving.

"Come on, it's not far." With a powerful leap, Ranma jumped up to the railing of the street level, before a second carried him high enough to catch a draft to begin gliding. Following after him, it took more effort to repeat the act, being that she had never been pressured to train her body like Ranma had been.

They flew for only a short distance, with Ranma seeming to be slightly lost, before he found a building he was looking for and went in to land. She did the same, wondering why he would choose this place. The answer came when a familiar female gargoyle stepped out from behind a large metal box. Taking a step back in apprehension, she was confused over both crossing paths with the woman, and why Ranma would bring her here.

"Now don't freak out Angela." Ranma tried to sound reassuring.

"What reason would I have to－ freak out?" She asked sarcastically. Even though she was trusting by nature, she simply was not comfortable with this.

"Angela, that name fits you." Demona took several steps towards her in a non-threatening manner.

"Um, thank you." She answered, taking a step back.

Ranma stopped her by placing a hand on her back. "Angela, this is your mom."

"My mother?" She turned to look in his face and he nodded. Demona was looking at her with a look of absolute hope and despair at the same time. "You－ and Goliath?"

"Yes, that was long ago－ very long ago." Demona answered. "I had thought you lost forever, stolen by the humans."

Angela quickly came around to the idea, being predisposed to being interested in her lineage from the start. Examining Demona critically, there were a lot of similarities, much of which she quickly noticed she also shared with Ranma. When Ranma had explained the curse that originally made him half gargoyle before, she hadn't realized that he had become a male version of Demona, and when fighting at the castle on Avalon there hadn't been enough time to notice similarities.

"No we were protected by them, if they hadn't brought us to Avalon we wouldn't have survived." She defended the Princess.

"If it wasn't for them, you would never have been put in that position." Demona took offense at her statement.

"Demona." Ranma warned. "Why are you getting angry?"

"You're right, I apologize. This meeting shouldn't be about unpleasant past memories." Demona moved to within arm's reach and this time Angela didn't back away. Slowly the older female reached out to lightly touch her right shoulder, as if to prove that Angela actually existed. "My daughter." The azure gargoyle's voice was full of emotions, and Angela couldn't help but smile. A fluttering feeling bubbled up in her chest, while not her perfect vision of being united with her parents, it was close enough.

X x x x x x

Flying through the air with Elisa in his arms, Goliath traced every roof for signs of the two run away children. Bronx had been told to remain with the skiff as he was too heavy to also carry, and too obvious to run around on the ground. He also could not run the risk of leaving Elisa alone with Demona in the area.

For what reason Ranma had vanished earlier, only to show up, and get Angela to disregard his order to protect Elisa? Demona had to be involved, that was for certain. The incedent at Loch Ness had shown that Ranma still harbored deep feelings for his former second in command. Feelings that appeared to have caused the boy to do something rash. Goliath was not so innocent in that regard that he didn't begrudge Ranma some leeway, but that's all it took for Demona to cause a catastrophe.

"Is that them?" Elisa asked, making him come back to his task. Goliath's sharp eyes immediately found three forms standing together on a three story building. Demona was slowly walking towards Angela, and reached out a hand to place on Angela's shoulder.

"It is." He narrowed his eyes, dropping down to land a short distance away.

Setting Elisa down gently, he straightened up to address the two children, and the elder, Demona. His former second instantly glared at him with a look more severe than he had seen. Angela had the good sense to look embarrassed for her actions. While Ranma simply didn't look at him at all, choosing instead to look down, and to the side.

"How dare you ruin this!" Demona hissed. "Manhattan is your protectorate."

"I do not know what your purpose is here in Paris, or why Ranma has suddenly decided to help you. But whatever plot you are attempting with Thailog, I will not stand by and watch." He answered her challenge, ready to fight if necessary.

"Goliath, there's no need to fight." Angela pleaded with him. "We were just talking."

"Angela, I tried to keep you away from her because you don't understand Demona. She'll use your fascination with biological parentage against you, twist you to her whim, and when you're no more use, you'll be cast aside like so many others." He was growing tired of explaining Demona.

Angela covered her mouth in shock. "You were trying to keep me from my mother?"

"Angela, such attachments are not the gargoyle way." Goliath resolved that the next time he saw the Princess he would have a long talk about how she had failed at raising the children. That or Angela took more after her biological mother than he wanted to see.

"You would do that, wouldn't you Goliath?" Demona sneered hatefully. "Ignore your child, for your sick relationship with that disgusting human, Elisa Maza, you've sunk to a new low." His former love spat Elisa's name as the most foul curse.

Goliath's face twisted into a scowl. "You've met Angela tonight for not even an hour and you think to lecture me?"

Demona snorted. "What use would be lecturing a fool like you, you're so in love with the humans that you would see your own kind crumble to dust and disappear."

Stalking towards Demona, he growled lightly, overcome by his anger that she would say such things to him, when it was her actions that were responsible for the death of the clan at Castle Wyvern. "A hypocrite like you has no right to say such things."

"Father please." Angela begged, getting in his way. Brushing past his biological daughter, he was focused purely on Demona.

If he could capture her, then her plans could be stopped with one blow. He also wanted to make her feel pain, any kind of pain the likes of which she so gleefully inflicted on him. The destruction of his clan, the betrayal upon the survivors awakening, and the many times since then that she had done her best to take everything from him again. There was so much that Demona had to answer for.

He was caught off guard by Demona making the first move. As fast as he was, she had become far faster, and he was struck in the face by her right fist. Staggering backwards, she stepped forward to his side, and swept out his feet with her left leg. Twisting in the air, he landed on all fours to swing his tail to hit her legs. He missed though, Demona jumping straight up into the air to glide backwards with her wings, and land on the ceiling in a crouch.

Roaring, he charged Demona. Slashing with his right hand, she deflected his arm across his body before spinning completely around, and lashing out with a kick that drove the wind from his lungs. Elisa called his name just before Demona caught him under the chin with an uppercut that sent him falling backwards to land hard on his wings.

'How is Demona so strong and fast?' He wondered, her speed had always been greater, but not to this extent, and he had always been the stronger. She also fought differently, more skill, less reliance on brute strength.

"I was never interested in playing with you." Demona brushed some imaginary dirt from the skintight material on her arms. "Angela, please come with me, it's not safe for you to stay with Goliath."

Sitting up, Goliath took several deep breaths before regaining his feet. He simply could not let Demona hurt another trusting soul. "Angela, Demona must not have mentioned to you that it was her plan that lead to the massacre at Castle Wyvern, victims of her wanting the humans killed or sold into slavery, including the Princess, Magus, and Tom."

Angela had a mute look of horror on her face, looking between him, and Demona. "Mother is this true?"

"You don't understand." Demona had gone from the confident winner of their brief skirmish to being defensive. "You can't know how they treated us, we were lower than dogs to them. Creatures beneath contempt. Especially to the Princess and Magus."

"No, I don't understand, I can't imagine how you could see them like that." Angela bowed her head. Goliath was now fully recovered and stepped between the two, his eyes glowing a bright white, daring Demona to try him again. The azure gargoyle looked past him once, before running up to the edge of the building, and stopping.

"When you learn the truth about Goliath, I'll be waiting. I'm always waiting." She said before diving over the side.

Breathing out a breath he had been holding, Goliath shifted to look at Ranma, and wondered what his part in all this was, but found him following after Demona. "Ranma, what are you doing?" He asked before the boy could go over the edge.

Ranma looked back at him with a haunted look before looking away again shamefully. "I'm sorry." He whispered before leaving the roof.

"Ranma!" Angela called after him, leaning over the lip. Goliath didn't move from his spot, glancing in the direction the two azure gargoyles were flying before turning back to Angela, and sighing.

"Are you alright?" Elisa asked while placing a delicate hand on his right forearm, and he looked down at the human.

"I'm unhurt." Looking back to Angela, he could see the indecisiveness in how she stood. "We should go back and make sure Bronx has not wandered off." He finally decided on a course of action.

"But what about Ranma?" Angela protested his course of action, clearly distraught over the sudden departure of the boy. Goliath knew that the two were close, nearly that of rookery siblings, if this was really the path Ranma had decided to take, it would be harder on Angela than either him or Elisa.

"Everyone has a choice." He answered. "－ even if we don't like them."

"Why didn't you tell me that you－ and Demona were in love?" Angela asked, her eyes digging into him.

"Because your parentage is not important－ and even if it was, you shouldn't have anything to do with her, the horrors that have been committed by Demona are far worse than even the Archmage." Goliath finished with a snort.

"Angela－ while I may not agree with Goliath about everything. Demona is not someone that you should expect anything good to come from." Elisa added.

"Ya know, you two don't tell me anything, you keep things from me, and yet you expect me to act in a certain way for things that I have no idea what they are!" Angela point a finger in the direction Demona and Ranma had left. "The only one who's ever been honest with me has been Ranma. So tell me why exactly I should trust you about this?"

"Angela!" He all but roared before he took a deep breath. "You know that you don't know about the world, and the various beings you'll meet off of Avalon. Don't expect that we can prepare you for all the dangers you may face, or that I won't protect you from ones you can avoid."

"I came to see the world, not be sheltered even further from it, father." Angela shook her head, and took off after Ranma and Demona.

"This is a disaster." He whispered to himself, gathering up Elisa to chase after Angela. Goliath had to stop when Elisa covered up his face with her hand. "What are you doing?"

"You just got through making a speech about choice."

"So?"

"So－ you can't force her to choose you."

Goliath did not want to admit it that she had cut to the heart of his motivation, he wanted to ignore Elisa, track down Angela, and force her to see things his way. Looking down at Elisa, he was about to tell her that he would find Angela, and stop this nonsense, when he noticed that her hair wasn't it's normal color, but a blonde.

"Remember Goliath." Elisa spoke. "This is the start of a dangerous path."

"Are you alright?" He asked, Elisa's hair returning to normal when he blinked his eyes.

"I said, I think Demona's won this one. The best we can do is hope that Angela and Ranma can take care of themselves."

Staring off into space, he reluctantly turned to head back in the other direction to go back to where Bronx should have stayed. He also berated himself for showing favoritism to Angela. While concerned about Ranma, it was nowhere near the concern he had for a child he had thought lost to the passage of time. 'What I wouldn't give to have Hudson here to guide me.'

X x x x x x

Ranma didn't want to even glance back to see if he, no they, were being followed. He needed to get used to the idea of Demona being in his life once again. For a moment he was able to forget about betraying everyone and focus on that. Aside from Angela and he wasn't sure that Bronx counted, neither Elisa or Goliath wanted him around. Since their first trip to the former home of castle Wyvern, he had noticed that they were trying to keep him separate, especially away from Angela.

He was so engrossed in trying to justify his actions, that when someone tugged on his tail, he nearly spiraled out of the sky. Regaining his equilibrium, he looked for the one who had grabbed him. Gargoyles didn't have tails just for show, the heavily muscled appendage was used as a rudder to steer in flight.

"Angela?" He rubbed at his eyes to be sure that he wasn't seeing things. Ranma didn't think that she would have left her father, even if he was being a jerk about that, so he did a quick roll to check for Goliath. "What's going on?" He asked after finding no sign of the big gargoyle.

"I'm coming with you." She answered with false cheer. "Someone has to make sure you don't get into trouble."

"I think I like trouble." He gave her a genuine smile, happy that she was here. "So what's your excuse?"

"Maybe I like trouble too－ and I left Avalon and everyone there to learn about the outside world. I can't do that if I'm with Goliath." She answered firmly.

"Then let's get in trouble together."

Demona was far enough ahead that she hadn't even heard their conversation but seeing that she had glanced back without much of a reaction, she must have noticed Angela tagging along when he first did. Finally paying attention to where they were, rather than just following, they were now over top Notre Dame. 'She must not know where the boat is.' He reasoned, figuring that she wouldn't have come here otherwise. Entering into the left tower before Angela, Ranma flared his wings, and came to a stop.

"Do you live here or something?" He asked, interested in finding out about the situation he had thrown himself in.

"I have a house across town for appearances." Demona smiled at Angela. "Did Goliath send you to keep track of me?"

"No, I imagine he's quite angry with me." Angela looked sheepish. "But the outside world isn't perfect is it?"

"How heartwarming." Goliath's voice came from the shadows, a pair of eyes shining out before a large body stepped into the light. He was definitely a clone of Goliath, their shapes were nearly identical. Thailog wore silver armor to cover his muscular form; his skin was a dark shade of purple, eyes red, and hair a bright white. "I missed you when I woke."

"You look like Goliath." Angela gasped.

"Sorry that I wasn't here earlier." Demona apologized while ignoring Angela's comment.. "Thailog, this is Ranma and Angela－ my daughter."

"Angela－ beautiful name." Thailog purred. Ranma didn't like the gargoyles eyes at all when they moved to him, they were cold and calculating, and with a hint of malice. "Ranma, Demona's told me so much about you."

"It's nice to meet you." Ranma nodded his head towards Thailog. The voice was the same as Goliath's but the way the clone spoke was so different. It reminded him of Xanatos and how he always sounded amused by something.

"Hello." Angela added hesitantly.

"I had food delivered to a nearby location, are you hungry my dear?" Thailog pressed himself close to Demona, stroking his hand along her upper arm. "I brought it here while you were away." Ranma glanced around, and spotted a large pile of white plastic bags in a corner.

"Famished." The red head answered, brushing away Thailog's advances.

"Why did you get so much?" He asked, there was no refrigerator to put leftovers in, and that was more than enough food for all four of them.

"They were having a special." Thailog quickly answered.

Ranma accepted the answer partially. There was still no reason to have ordered so much if it was just going to go to waste. Then again, Demona probably had a house somewhere, and could simply take the food there. Maybe he was just being paranoid and a little jealous, even if Thailog was someone Demona planned to do away with.

'Crap, how am I going to handle that?' He thought, having forgotten Demona's plan. Macbeth didn't seem like he deserved whatever it was she had planned for him. Ranma didn't know enough about Thailog to make a judgment, but something about the clone set Ranma's defense on edge. During the day he would have time to talk to her privately, convince her to stop her plan. If he was to stay then he would have to protect Demona from herself.

X x x x x x

Elisa sat in the skiff as Goliath paddled it to a safer position for the day. Their reason for being here was now clear, to stop Demona and whatever plan she had. Bronx interrupted her thoughts by putting his large head on her lap. Petting the fearsome creature, he murmured something, and she knew why he was upset.

"Sorry Bronx, I don't know when they're going to be back." She told the gargoyle beast, hoping that he would understand.

"Or if." Goliath spoke up without looking back from his position at the front of the skiff.

"Don't talk like that." Her tone caused Bronx to sit up and look at her worriedly.

"A gargoyle protects Elisa and I could never regret the lives I've saved, or the people I've helped. But－ I would exchange any of them if it meant that I didn't have to see Angela and Ranma follow someone like Demona."

"I know how you feel." Watching the city move slowly by, she knew that they hadn't exactly treated Ranma like he was part of their group, and they had tried to protect Angela from a sudden immersion in the worst parts of the real world. "But I think we should trust that if they can get into trouble, they can get themselves out."

X x x x x x

Demona listened with rapt attention to her daughter relate information about her life for over an hour now. She was still amazed that she was talking to her own daughter, not a daughter of the clan, but the child she had thought lost. Having never truly accepted that gargoyle children should not know their biological parents, this was truly incredible. That all the children had survived was a blessing she couldn't put into words. It was enough to even remove some of the hatred she had for Katharine.

Only more rose up to fill its place. It was too convenient that the human had changed her attitude so suddenly when she had years to prevent the events that led up to the Wyvern massacre. Katharine's entire life had been spent looking down on gargoyles and treating them as a nuisance that should be removed. That could not be forgotten.

"Demona, we have things that we should discuss before morning." Thailog was nosing around, clearly trying to spin this to his advantage.

'Oh but the advantage is mine now.' She nodded and headed off to talk to him in private. "What is it?"

"How goes the plan with Macbeth?" The Goliath clone asked.

"Perfect, tomorrow evening, just before nightfall, we'll be wed. He was even so kind as to show me the dungeon that he has underneath. With an oh so perfect place to keep him for all eternity."

Thailog laughed cruelly. "Perfect." He purred, glancing back to where the two children would be. "Except for them."

"Angela doesn't need to know. Ranma does know, but he shouldn't be a problem."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course." She reaffirmed. "I'll be able to explain things to him today and he'll come around."

"I should hope so."

"And what about you? Did the merger between us go through?"

"Flawlessly, you and I are now the co-owners of Nightstone Unlimited."

"I do like that name." She chuckled, remembering the stone by night curse. Demona hadn't even expected the effect it would have all around the world. Too bad when it was broken in Manhattan it lost it's effect everywhere, and was being treated as some sort of mass hysteria.

"The only thing that may cause a problem is Goliath." Thailog pointed out and Demona realized that the clone should not have known that he was here.

"Except he has no idea what is going on and I doubt he knows about me and Macbeth during the day." She did not mention that the insufferable Elisa Maza was also in Paris. "But he will fight for Angela. He won't accept that she can't be his."

"You could find him and destroy him in his sleep." Thailog suggested.

"No, that's how a human would do it." She snapped. "And Goliath is useful to me in other ways."

"Fine, well it's close to morning, so I'll meet you at Macbeth's tomorrow."

"I'll be waiting." Once again she avoided any of his unwanted advances. She didn't think he was so simple as to think that because she and Goliath had once been together that she should move to him, but he was certainly acting like it. All of it would be over soon and she would be even wealthier than Xanatos and would have both Ranma and her daughter in her life.

X x x x x x

Author Notes:

1 - Demona is thinking of the events of Season 1, episode 11, Long Way To Morning

2 - Events from Season 2, episode 16, Double Jeopardy.


End file.
